The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry opined that Indonesia had a brilliant future, as it had almost all types of energy sources needed in the energy transition process.
“Indonesia’s future is very bright. We must believe that we have a very good future. When compared to neighboring countries, we are still better off, and we have almost everything needed in the energy transition process,” the director general of new and renewable energy and energy conservation at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Dadan Kusdiana, remarked at the Energy Transition Youth Forum accessed here on Thursday.
He noted that Indonesia had potential of some 3,700 gigawatts of renewable energy of varying types, which were spread evenly all across Aceh to Papua.
According to Kusdiana, Indonesia had solar and geothermal energy potentials in addition to water, wind, hydrogen, or bioenergy.
“Aceh has geothermal energy. Now, we are constructing a large-scale hydropower plant there. North Kalimantan (has) 10 thousand megawatts of hydropower, and soon (we) will process towards a green industrial park. (In) the easternmost part, Papua, there is about 23 gigawatts of potential for hydropower,” he elaborated.
He further said that East Nusa Tenggara, where it rarely rains, had better sunlight quality than other regions in Indonesia, capped at 30 percent.
As a maritime country, Indonesia has vast marine energy potential, Kusdiana added. These resources require innovation from the youths, given marine energy would be the energy of the future.
“We have complete minerals (types), except (for) lithium. Actually, we have it, but the amount is too small. Water from geothermal, if processed, will result in lithium. We have other (minerals, such as) nickel, manganese, cobalt, iron, and copper. These are the main materials to make batteries,” he added.
“This depends on where we want to take Indonesia. In my opinion, we must learn and innovate (in developing the potential of clean energy),” he added.
Director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Indonesia Jeff Cohen said that his administration was aware of the strategic involvement of young people all over the world, especially in Indonesia, to encourage long-term sustainable growth.
He remarked that the USAID supports various youth-driven programs in creating initiatives, as the younger generation is far more capable of being creative in showing their preference for energy transitions as an effort to address the negative impacts of climate change and take action regarding renewable energy solutions.
Source: Antara News