Commentary: Indonesia’s COVID-19 recovery plan relies on dirty energy

Commentary: Indonesia’s COVID-19 recovery plan relies on dirty energy

RECOVERY WITHOUT HAVING SUSTAINABILITY

Indonesia’s support for the use of fossil fuels is shown by the allocated funds, reaching about eight per cent of the complete National Economic Recovery budget.

The particular economic recovery programme has 15 proper measures to support the energy sector. Most of these measures are likely to benefit the fossil fuels industry, instead of the new and renewable energy industry.

The most significant funding invested in the energy sector, 95. 3 trillion rupiah (US$6. 4 billion), has been given to state-owned enterprises linked to precious fuel energy, which includes oil and gas firm Pertamina, power firm PLN, airline company Garuda Indonesia, and train operator KAI, to support their businesses.

In addition , 13. 1 trillion rupiah is definitely disbursed to subsidise electricity for poor households, predominantly produced from burning coal.

In 2020, the Indonesian Govt also continued the yearly subsidies associated with 97. 3 trillion rupiah for different types of fossil energy, like electricity, liquefied oil gas (LPG) plus gasoline.

In comparison, the National Economic Recovery programme only specified a subsidy for one type of alternative energy, biodiesel.

In the mean time, support for other forms of new and renewable energy is mentioned, yet without details on the allocation of money or programmes. For example , the recovery program says it supports incentives for the installing of rooftop solar power panels designed for private customers. However , the implementation of the support is not clear.