Even though the world is currently aggressively campaigning for an energy transition from fossil energy to new and renewable energy (EBT), in fact a number of countries are increasingly aggressive in building coal-based power plants, such as in China and India.
Not only in Asia, Europe has even revived coal-fired Steam Power Plants (PLTU).
Deputy for Investment and Mining Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Septian Hario Seto, said that the war between Russia and Ukraine had made many countries increase the use of coal-fired power plants again. In fact, European countries are hunting for coal from Indonesia.
Not only that, China and India, which are one of Indonesia’s largest coal users, are also building new PLTU projects. China is known to be building a new project with a capacity of 300 Giga Watt (GW), while India is 60 GW.
“Yesterday, with the energy crisis that they (Europe) experienced, some people bought coal from Indonesia and America. Then India is currently building a 60 GW coal-fired power plant, in China we think there are 300 GW coal-fired power plants being built. ,” said Seto in CNBC Indonesia’s Sustainable Future Program, quoted on Wednesday (27/09/2023).
According to Seto, these countries are looking at current conditions from the perspective of their energy security. Thus, this creates quite a big challenge in financing the energy transition.
“From calculations from the International Energy Agency alone, between 2022-20250, around US$ 12 trillion in funds will be needed for the energy transition in accordance with the targets set by each country,” he said.
Therefore, Seto considers it quite difficult for Indonesia to carry out this energy transition program without assistance from developed countries. However, Indonesia is still committed to implementing programs towards the use of clean energy.
“We already have a plan, first the priority is PLTUs, then transportation, we will encourage EVs. I think this is something we are pushing for and we also have a commitment regarding coal PLTUs, so I think if Indonesia doesn’t get help from developed countries, we will do it according to the method and the capabilities we have,” he added.
Source : CNBC