Deputy Minister Of SOEs Asks PLN To Auction 1 GW Scale EBT Generation Starting Next Year

Deputy Minister of BUMN Kartika Wirjoatmodjo (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) targets PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) or PLN to auction off large-scale new renewable power plants (EBT) above 1 gigawatt (GW) to start next year.

Deputy Minister of SOEs Kartika Wijoatmodjo said that currently there is an increasing trend of electricity demand. That way, PLN power plant auctions will be directed to blocks whose scale is above 1 GW.

"Demand supply at PLN, demand has started pick-up so we believe that in 2024 we can do bidding on a large scale for renewable," he said at the 2024 Indonesian Economic Outlook Seminar, in Jakarta, Friday, December 22.

"We also want the bidding not to be on a small scale of 50 megawatts (MW), 100 MW, but we want to block the bidding 1 GW, 2 GW so that the scale for accelerating the pursuit of 24 GW in the next 10 years," he continued.

Tiko, Kartika Wirjoatmodjo's nickname, said that the large-scale project auction will bring in large investment or capital needs. Meanwhile, PLN's financial capacity and domestic capital loans are still relatively limited.

"Well, the challenge is a large scale of 1 GW, 2 GW, which is financing on a large scale with a long term and of course in US dollars. Of course, domestically there is no long-term source of funding," he explained.

Furthermore, Tiko said that these large auction block projects need to be supported by international financing. Therefore, Tiko said the government is approaching a number of EBT companies that have quite good capital capabilities.

"Indeed, we have to attract international bank organizations or communities. So that there is a large-scale full of funds. In terms of equity, many world-scale energy companies are interested in entering Indonesia," he said.