Energy Minister Says Artificial Intelligence Vital in the Energy Sector

MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

PRESS RELEASE

NUMBER: 366.Pers/04/SJI/2020

Date: 24 November 2020

Energy Minister Says Artificial Intelligence Vital in the Energy Sector

Development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the energy sector is vital, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) Arifin Tasrif has said at the ASEAN Workshop on 4th Industrial Revolution Artificial Intelligence: Implementation in Energy Efficiency, Cyber Security, and Agriculture on Tuesday (24/11). The workshop is organized by Ministry of Research and Technology/Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency in a hybrid method and joined by business players, researchers, and government officials from countries across Southeast Asia.

Indonesian national energy industry has applied smarter and more efficient methods, for example through the use and development of AI, continued Minister Arifin. A prominent application of AI in the energy sector is smart grid technology for electricity generation.

"Smart grid includes modern and up-to-date information as well as communication technology. All of these will improve the quality of Indonesia's electricity networks, increase consumer participation, and integrate renewable energy into the electricity system," Arifin further explained.

The smart grid technology has currently been implemented in West Sumbawa, Bali, and East Nusa Tenggara, and will be applied in the Java-Bali electricity grid system. Smart grids have been included in Indonesia's General Plan for Electricity Supply (RUPTL) of 2019-2028.

Another application of AI in electricity generation is automatic monitoring of photovoltaic (PV) modules. To increase the portion of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) in the electricity system, the Indonesian Government has started to combine floating solar PV plant with existing hydropower plant in order to overcome the intermittency problem, for example with the construction of a floating solar PV plant at the Cirata hydropower in West Java Province.

In addition, the Indonesian Government has also used a thermal power flexibility technology at thermal coal power plants to respond to VRE fluctuations and weather forecasts. "The complex power system has led to the need for a better monitoring system and triggered digitization of energy," said Arifin.

The use of AI in the industrial sector will greatly promote energy efficiency. The industrial sector is the second largest energy consumer after the transportation sector, accounting for 37% of final consumption in 2019. "The application of AI in industry and buildings will help save energy by an average of 15%-20%, and support better process of operation and maintenance," explained Minister Arifin.

In Indonesia's fossil energy business, Arifin continued, AI has also been used. Over 95% of all gas stations in Indonesia has been digitized, or about 5,200 out of the 5,518 target. Such digitization enables the monitoring of fuel sales, stock, receipt, cashless transactions, marketing, and automatic scheduling. Meanwhile, the Minerba Online System is used in the mineral and coal subsector to increase value chain accountability, support the implementation of a one-data policy, and increase management transparency in the subsector.

The workshop also includes a panel discussion under the theme of AI for Energy Efficiency with Director of Energy Conservation of Ministry of EMR, Hariyanto, and founder of PT Inovasi Dinamika Pratama, Andre Susanto, who won an Energy Globe Award in 2020. Both panelists shared their experience in AI development for energy efficiency in Indonesia. (IY)

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