Diesel-to-Renewable Plant Conversion to Generate up to 2 GW

The government and PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) will convert around 5,200 diesel-fired power plants (PLTD) into renewable (EBT) plants. The power plant conversion project may generate up to 2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity. "Most of the plants are in Eastern Indonesia. We will arrange a joint program with PLN," the ministry’s director-general of new, renewable energy and energy conservation, Dadan Kusdiana, revealed in a virtual press conference on Thursday (1/14).

The program formulation will allow PLN to maintain the electricity supply cost (BPP) and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, electricity tariff from renewable plants can be the same or even lower than that of diesel-fired power plants. "The government wants the BPP to be the same, especially when fuel shipments are not necessary because they can use local, renewable energies such as solar," he said.

In the future, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry will coordinate with local administrations to prepare lands for the renewable plants replacing the diesel-fired ones. Dadan explained that biomass power plants (PLTBm) and solar power plants (PLTS), for example, are land-consuming. Moreover, to speed up the conversion, the ministry also invited independent power producers (IPP) to join the project.