Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – The change in co-leadership roles after the US quit the Just Energy Transition Partnership or JETP climate funding has little to no effect on the multi-billion dollar pledges previously set to help Indonesia ditch coal, according to a senior minister.
Despite the optimistic outlook, Jakarta is aware that the financing process needs to pick up pace.
The JETP package came into existence in 2022 when some rich nations – part of the International Partners Group (IPG) – vowed to fund $10 billion for Indonesia's energy transition. US and Japan co-led this group that comprised France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada, Italy, Norway, and Denmark. GFANZ – a group of international lenders – promised to give another $10 billion.
This brought the initial total to $20 billion, and the JETP climate funding package grew to $21.5 billion over time.
According to media reports, the US commitment in Indonesia topped $2 billion. However, US President Donald Trump has ordered Washington to exit various international agreements, and the JETP was no exception. Germany officially took over the US' spot as the co-lead alongside Japan.
Amid all these changes, Chief Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto said the JETP commitments "remain unchanged".
"Japan and Germany have pledged to co-lead the JETP despite the US withdrawal. There is a commitment to resume the JETP so they can support Indonesia's goal of reaching net zero emission by 2060 or sooner.... There are no changes to the [$20 billion] funding commitment," Airlangga told reporters in Jakarta on Monday.
Of those tens of billions promised, however, Indonesia has only received $1.1 billion in JETP funding commitments to be earmarked for 54 projects. About $233 million are grants that will fund 45 energy transition projects. The nine other projects would receive loans and equities, Airlangga claimed. The minister revealed that the IPG had secured $1 billion in multilateral development bank (MDB) guarantees. The government is planning to set up a green economy transition taskforce – led by Airlangga himself – so Indonesia can get the promised money much faster.
Earlier that day, Airlangga met with the ambassadors of the JETP countries and representatives from the international financiers. Airlangga told the press that the meeting had zeroed in on coal power phase-outs and the possibility of including a waste-to-energy project in Legok Nangka, West Java in the JETP pipeline. This project involves Jabar Environmental Solutions (JES) – a joint venture set up by local company Energia Prima Nusantara, Japan's Sumitomo Corporation, and Hitachi Zosen Corporation. The plant is expected to convert 2,000 tons of waste per day into 40-megawatt electricity.
Coal-fired generation represents 67 percent of Indonesia's national power output, data showed.