JAKARTA -- SOE Minister Erick Thohir said Indonesia is committed to an energy transition. Nevertheless, the energy transition is being implemented in a measured manner to ensure that the program does not harm society.
Erick said Indonesia set a target for Indonesia's energy transition until 2060. At the COP 28 agenda in Dubai last week, Erick stressed Indonesia's commitment to the global. “At COP 28 yesterday we reaffirmed our commitment in the energy transition until 2060,” Erick said in Commission VI of the Parliament of the Republic of Indonesia on Monday (4/12/2023).
Erick said Indonesia did set a target 10 years later than other countries completing the energy transition by 2050. However, according to Erick, there are community interests and industrial growth that must be safeguarded. “They, other countries can install faster because they've done it earlier. We're still making the energy transition by maintaining our competitiveness,” Erick said.
He stressed that the energy transition process in Indonesia needs to be done gradually so that the domestic industry can stay afloat and not have to pay more for electricity. “We don't want our energy transition to have an impact on the competitiveness of our industry. We don't want industry to also have to pay more for electricity so that it hinders it to grow,” Erick said.
Another important thing to consider is the community. Erick insists that the energy transition made in a hurry will have an impact on people's purchasing power. “We also have to make sure that people don't have to pay for more expensive electricity,” Erick added.
Erick is optimistic that the energy transition remains workable in Indonesia. Currently, Indonesia is also focused on building an industry supporting the energy transition. Various innovation and technological advances in the current energy transition are already excellent and make the price of electricity from clean energy cheaper.
“We could make Cirata yesterday at 5.8 cents (USD). Some countries, floating PLTS can go for 4.8 cents. It's already starting to have competition. It's what we continue to push for as we head into green energy,” Erick said.
Erick said that there are several strategic projects in the energy sector that will be the focus of SOE performance next year. The project is important for increasing added value for the country and maintaining energy resilience. “Next year we will continue national strategic projects, one of them in terms of energy transition and downstream,” Erick said.
Erick explained that the decarbonization program to reduce emissions will continue to run in 2024. This is in line with the commitment of the Government of Indonesia in the energy transition. “In particular energy transitions from coal to EBT which will be done gradually in 2024 going forward,” Erick said.
Second, downstream projects. According to Erick, this downstream project is critical to increasing the added value from raw materials to finished products. The government is pushing downstream nickel to support the electric vehicle battery industry as one of its downstream nickel efforts.
“IBC, a subsidiary of MIND ID and PLN and Pertamina, focuses on the development of battery EVs. Yesterday was the cooperation, 2.5 years of cooperation with CATL China, one of the largest battery manufacturers in the world. We've partnered. It's a new industry going forward, so our nickel downstream can be maximized,” Erick added.
In addition, SOEs will focus on completing refinery and smelter projects as one of the downstream instruments. In the next year, one of Pertamina's major projects, the Balikpapan refinery, will be officially operational.
“Downstream, we're pushing to add value from the raw materials building the refineries and smelters we're pushing. Balikpapan in 2024 the Balikpapan refinery project could be completed. It's Pertamina's big project,” Erick said.
Deputy Chairperson of the VI DPR Commission Aria Bima appreciated the performance of Erick Thohir in leading the Ministry of state-owned enterprises and SOEs. Bima said that Erick is able to implement SOE tasks that are not only corporations pursuing profits, but also capable of contributing to the development of the economy and the acceptance of the state.
“It is noted that the performance of consolidated SOEs 2023 has improved, which is indicated by the increase in revenue and profit of SOEs,” Bima said.
Bima said Erick's move had a significant impact in improving the performance and contribution of SOEs to the economy and state acceptance, including the social impact on society. “The government through the Ministry of state-owned enterprises should indeed be able to ensure that SOEs are able to contribute to the maximum to generate profits and benefits for society,” Bima said.
Bima hopes that Erick can maintain and continue the positive trend of SOEs for the next year. Bima believes that increasing the contribution of SOEs will have a great impact for the country and society. “The measures taken by the Ministry of state-owned enterprises should be continued and improved to ensure the performance of SOEs is getting better in 2024 and the following years,” Bima said.
Bima added that state-owned enterprises have a big role to play in boosting economic growth, GDP, investment, tax revenue, exports, to SMEs.
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