Comments on Indonesia's JETP Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIPP)

14 November 2023

Ember recognizes the significance of the JETP CIPP in achieving Indonesia's ambitious climate goals and offer recommendations to ensure that the plan aligns with the Paris Agreement.

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About this submission

Ember responded to the call for comments on the Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIPP) document of Indonesia’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). Ember’s formal feedback to the JETP Secretariat was submitted on 13 November 2023.

Summary

Ember commends the efforts in developing the Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIPP) document, a key instrument to accelerate Indonesia’s decarbonization of the power sector. Ember offers these insights drawn from our data-driven approach to further refine and strengthen the CIPP to align Indonesia closer with the Paris Agreement objectives.

Key recommendations
  • Captive power concerns: Emission projections are underestimated when including captive power plants. Assuming the same model parameters of the 250 Mt CO2 on-grid emissions, captive power emissions could reach 153 – 187 Mt CO2 by 2030. Combined, Indonesia risks overshooting its power sector emissions cap of 290 Mt CO2, compromising its climate commitments.
  • Increase solar and wind: Ember recommends implementing more solar and wind power, including incentivizing rooftop solar PV adoption, considering Indonesia’s high solar potential and the economic viability of these resources. The current plan underestimates solar and wind capacity, leaning more towards dispatchable renewables which are more expensive.
  • Bioenergy reliance and feasibility: Bioenergy, poised to play a larger role in Indonesia’s energy mix (8% of the power mix by 2030 and 17% by 2050), raises questions of sustainability and economic feasibility. Ember suggests a rigorous evaluation to ensure bioenergy’s role is both practical and sustainable, even as a stop-gap solution to repurpose coal-fired power plants.
  • More ambitious coal retirement: A disparity exists between the JETP plan and Indonesia’s previously announced coal retirement goals. Therefore, the coal retirement timeline must be revisited to align with Indonesia’s 5.2 GW retirement announcement by 2030, as opposed to the current plan’s more gradual approach.
  • Transparent and secure funding: The International Partners Group (IPG) and Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) must deliver on their promises to stable and clear funding commitments, especially in the face of potential political turmoil.
  • Need for domestic policy reform: To support the expansion of renewable energy, aligning policies are required, including changes in energy procurement processes and discontinuing coal power subsidies. Furthermore, no new coal fleet must be pursued and the implementation of JETP requires these plans to be integrated into the State Electricity Company’s business plans.
  • Just energy transition: A just transition is more than reducing emissions; it involves inclusive strategies such as effective e-waste management and safeguard mechanisms for impacted local communities. A more comprehensive push for balanced policies that consider environmental and social dimensions are needed.

We have seen the combo of solar and battery energy storage systems (BESS) outperforming other sources of energy in terms of costs and practicality for deployment. The CIPP’s focus on dispatchable renewables, which will only begin operations by the end of the decade, risks steering Indonesia off course from an accelerated energy transition.

Pamela Simamora Southeast Asia Senior Electricity Policy Analyst, Ember

Acknowledgement

Lead author: Pamela Simamora

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Ember's comments on Indonesia's JETP Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIPP)

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