Indonesia, Denmark to Cooperate in Clean Energy

Indonesia, Denmark to cooperate in clean energy The Indonesian and Danish governments issued a joint statement on clean energy on the sidelines of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM9) meeting in Copenhagen on Wednesday as an initial step toward the establishment of a bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said Indonesia had set an ambitious target of meeting 23 percent of the country’s total energy needs from renewable sources by 2025.

“The archipelago is fortunate to be endowed with ample renewable energy resources, including geothermal, hydro, tidal, solar, wind, solar and biomass,” said Jonan as quoted in a statement issued by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry received by The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Indonesia is now facing the daunting task of reaching 100 percent electrification by 2024, and the government has achieved significant progress in the past 18 months, he added.

While Indonesia had a strong commitment to developing renewable energy, the government also paid serious attention to energy affordability, Jonan said, adding that the development of two wind farms in South Sulawesi reflected the government’s commitment.

Meanwhile, Danish Energy Minister Lars Christian Lilleholt said Denmark had been transitioning toward clean energy for a number of years.

He admitted that only a few decades ago, the Danish energy system relied much on coal-fired power plants. “Today that picture has changed completely. The Danish energy system today is ranked as the best in the World,” Lilleholt said.

Lilleholt said the energy transition had also created many jobs in the clean-tech sector.

“But the journey is not over. It is the ambition of the Danish government to be fossil fuel independent by 2050. To achieve that we will focus even more on securing low costs and boosting competition in the energy market, but also on increased integration of energy markets and digitalization,” he added. Indonesia, Denmark to cooperate in clean energy  (bbn, Nezar Patria, The Jakarta Post)