The Indonesian Government is continuing to encourage the utilization of induction stoves to boost the use of clean energy among the community through the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-to-electric stove conversion program.

Induction stoves can help state-owned electricity provider PT PLN customers save on expenses through the subsidized household program, secretary at the Directorate General of Electricity of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Munir Ahmad, said.

“Switching to an induction cooker can reduce the burden of cooking costs by up to 57 percent for household customers who are subsidized by PLN,” he informed in a statement received here on Friday.

Furthermore, the conversion will also benefit the government as it will allow it to save foreign exchange, increase economic growth, and absorb domestic workers, he added.

In addition, Ahmad said that the conversion program aims to achieve energy independence in the midst of high imports of LPG, which reached Rp50.6 trillion per year.

Meanwhile, for PLN, the program can optimize the utilization of its reserve margin of 3.2 gigawatts of power, with potential revenue of Rp1.8 trillion per year, he added.

Ahmad said that PLN had conducted a study regarding the potential customers of the conversion program in locations without any gas and dimethyl ether network.

“Based on the study, the use of induction stoves can reach 19 million customers by 2030,” he informed.

Thus, it will increase domestic spending and contribute to the national economic growth by 0.5 percent, he said.

The government has estimated that the conversion program will require a total budget of Rp2.85 trillion to reach the target of two million users by 2022, he added.

“The budget for the disbursal of free induction stoves and their supporting utensils is Rp2.4 trillion, while the subsidy for the electricity use can reach Rp456 billion,” the directorate general secretary said.

Source: Antara News