The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) views Indonesia as having significant potential to lead the global energy transition. Ida Nuryatin Finahari, Secretary of the Directorate General of Electricity at the Ministry of ESDM, highlighted the potential through the development of a super grid. A super grid is a large-scale transmission network that typically spans continents or involves multiple nations. In Indonesia, projects like the Sumatra-Java, Kalimantan-Java, and Nusa Tenggara-Bali interconnections aim to harness renewable energy potentials and supply them to consumption centers in Java, supporting smelter industries and green hydrogen zones. At the launch of Electricity Connect 2024 in Jakarta on Wednesday (17/7), Ida emphasized the challenges of implementing a super grid, including substantial investments, detailed planning, and stakeholder coordination to address geographical and technological hurdles. Therefore, the involvement of domestic and international investors is crucial to finance the necessary super grid infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Darmawan Prasodjo, CEO of PT PLN, emphasized that maximizing renewable energy resources like solar and wind power requires robust inter-island electricity transmission infrastructure, such as smart grids. Without such advancements, the utilization of solar and wind power could only reach around 5 gigawatts (GW). However, with smart grids and advanced technologies, this capacity could potentially increase to nearly 30 GW, significantly enhancing Indonesia's renewable energy utilization. Darmawan stressed the substantial costs involved in optimizing renewable energy potentials, especially for building transmission lines from renewable energy sources to electricity users across different islands. He underscored the need for collaborative efforts among all stakeholders to maximize the use of renewable energy in Indonesia, emphasizing that PLN cannot achieve this goal alone.
