Han Revanda Putra, Jakarta – Indonesia's state-owned electricity company PT PLN called off its 13.3 gigawatts (GW) of steam power plants (PLTU) previously planned in the 2019-2028 Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL). PLN claimed the step will avoid around 1.8 billion tons of CO2 emissions in the next 25 years.
The company also canceled a 1.3 GW steam power plant Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to curb over 200 million tons of carbon emissions. The state-owned company also replaced 1.1 GW of PLTU with new and renewable energy generators and 800 MW of PLTU with gas generators to reduce emissions by 300 million tons of CO2.
"PLN's duty today is not only supplying electricity to the citizens but to protect the environment and to reduce emissions," said PLN CEO Darmawan Prasodjo in a written statement, on Sunday, August 11, 2024.
Darmawan said PLN took the initiative to support energy transition through the decarbonization of fossil fuel-based power plants, increasing the capacity of NRE plants, supporting infrastructure such as smart grids and control systems, and developing a green ecosystem.
PLN's Director of Transmission and System Planning Evy Haryadi said PLN already has an Accelerating Renewable Energy Development (ARED) scenario to accelerate the transition from fossil energy to NRE.
"The scenario will add 75 percent of NRE-based power plants and 25 percent of gas plants by 2040. This scenario will ensure the emissions reduction is right on target while maintaining system reliability," said Evy.
PLN will build a green transmission line or inter-island transmission network to channel NRE potential in remote locations. PLN will also implement smart grid technology as a solution to handle intermittency in renewable energy plants.
Thus, the target for NRE-based power plants will triple from 22 GW to 61 GW by 2040.