The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is planning to develop the potential of wind power in 16 locations in Indonesia.
The ministrys director general for new and renewable energy Rida Mulyana stated here on Tuesday that the country has in fact high wind power potential due to which Indonesia is exploring cooperation with Denmark to develop it.
According to Mulyana, the cooperation has been established to set up the projects in Solo in Central Java and Jeneponto and Sidrap in South Sulawesi.
“The capacity of those power plants is 75 megawatts and 70 megawatts. We expect that the Solo project will be realized in 2018, as (the cooperation) has been signed with Denmark,” he explained.
Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan has stated that developing the potential of each region, including harnessing wind power, would be more efficient than spending significant amount of funds to connect islands to supply energy.
During a meeting with Minister of Development Cooperation of Denmark Ulla Tornes, Jonan also discussed the mapping of Indonesias wind power potential.
According to Jonan, Indonesia has about 800 inhabited islands that require supply of energy. Each of the islands may not be connected to the network, as it is not cost-effective, and significant amount of time will be needed to create a network.
Jonan also remarked that every region can generate energy without having to rely on the main network connection between the islands by developing the potential of wind power as a form of renewable energy.
“That is the challenge. If we can produce good-quality goods at a high cost, it is a common thing. However, if we can generate good-quality products at a low cost, it is a good invention, one of them being the wind power plant,” he noted.
Both ministers launched the mapping of wind power potential and energy studies describing the prospects of wind energy in Indonesia.
Renewable energy is a partnership milestone between Indonesia and Denmark in fulfilling the nations target to achieve 23 percent of renewable energy of the total national energy consumption by 2025.
Tornes and Indonesian Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya will thereafter visit and observe the Jakarta Bay aboard a ship to get a first-hand glimpse of the pollution caused by plastic waste and waste water.
Thereafter, they will launch a new intergovernmental cooperation for joint water and sewage treatment at the Maritime Museum, followed by the signing of an agreement between the Jakarta provincial government and its Danish counterpart represented by the countrys Ambassador to Indonesia on Denmarks support to design the Jakarta Waste Management Master Plan.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and Denmark’s Development Cooperation Ministry launched on Tuesday a map pinpointing the wind power potential for electrification in Indonesia.
Denmark Development Cooperation Minister Ulla Tørnæs said this was part of a six-month cooperative engagement between the two governments, during which they exchanged their experiences in developing renewable energy sources for electrification.
“Today, we are launching a new wind map that shows the vast potential for utilizing wind in Indonesia,” Tørnæs said in her opening speech at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry in Central Jakarta on Tuesday.
“A number of visits to Denmark [by Indonesian officials] over the past six months has deepened the discussion and insight into waste-to-energy solutions, the use of biomass and how to accommodate fluctuating markets.”
The map displays the hot spots for wind power potential in Indonesia. It is expected to help the government and investors decide the best locations to develop wind turbines.
The map was also launched alongside a book titled Integration of Wind Energy in Power Systems, which will serve as a guide for policymaking and the integration of electricity into state-owned electricity firm PLN’s existing system. The book was written based on Denmark’s experiences in wind power development.
