COP29: Indonesia to add 75 GW of clean energy including nuclear: climate envoy

Indonesia will adhere to its climate pledges under the newly elected government and build 100 GW of new power generation of which 75% will be from new and renewable energy sources including a nuclear plant, special climate envoy Hashim Djojohadikusumo announced at the UN Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan, according to statements by the Ministry of Environment Nov. 11 and Nov. 12.

The Southeast Asian country's current energy and climate policies were drafted by the administration of outgoing President Joko Widodo, who was replaced in October by Prabowo Subianto.

Subianto's administration has outlined green investment targets including a $235 billion program to build more than 100 GW of additional power generation capacity over the next 15 years until 2040, Djojohadikusumo, who is also Subianto's brother, said.

"Of this, 75% will come from new and renewable energy. This 75% is a massive commitment to new and renewable energy sources, comprising wind, geothermal, hydro and nuclear power. We will build a nuclear power center," he said in a statement.

The climate envoy said Indonesia's new government will continue the previous government's climate policies, aligning with efforts to accelerate its net-zero emissions target. "There is no weakening in our commitment to the programs under the Paris Agreement, the Kyoto Protocol and several other follow-up agreements," Djojohadikusumo said, adding that there is a reforestation program to restore critical lands in Indonesia.

Under its 2022 Nationally Determined Contributions, Indonesia set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 31.89% by 2030 through domestic measures or by 43.2% with international support.

The government also plans to reduce dependence on fossil fuels by shifting to renewable energy sources, with a long-term goal of achieving net zero by 2060, incorporating carbon capture and storage as well as carbon capture, utilization and storage as key strategies.

"We are blessed with a large number of saline aquifers across the archipelago, both onshore and offshore, and we estimate that we have a carbon storage capacity of 500 gigatons," Djojohadikusumo said. "We will start this program, which will take years. We can't do it overnight," he added.

Zero Routine Flaring

Meanwhile, Pertamina's spokesperson Fadjar Djoko Santoso said the national oil company has committed to the World Bank's Zero Routine Flaring initiative to reduce emissions from oil and gas upstream activities, and will announce its participation at COP29, along with efforts to develop sustainable aviation fuel.

As the only Indonesian company endorsing ZRF, Pertamina aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2060 or sooner, Santoso said in a statement.

The ZRF initiative aims to secure government and global oil company commitments to end routine flaring (the burning of gas that cannot be commercialized) by 2030, through regulatory adjustments, technological development and financial cooperation, Pertamina added.

Separately on Nov. 12, Pertamina New and Renewable Energy CEO John Anis said Pertamina had successfully reduced emissions by 8.5 million mt of CO2 from Scope 1 and 2 emissions since 2010 and plans to continue increasing these cuts.

"We also have great potential in the geothermal sector, with a current installed capacity of 672 MW, and our subsidiary PGE continues to drive the expansion of installed capacity to 1.4 GW by 2029," Anis said, adding that in hydrogen, Pertamina is working to reduce production costs by up to 30% by optimizing the use of electricity.