Energy Ministry Launches Solar Rooftop Webinar Series

MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

PRESS RELEASE

NUMBER: 203.Pers/04/SJI/2021

Date: 12 June 2021

Energy Ministry Launches Solar Rooftop Webinar Series

To disseminate information about new renewable energy, especially solar energy, the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) together with student organization Society Renewable Energy (SRE) hold a series of webinars titled Solar Energy Initiative Movement for young people. The webinar series will provide technical and commercial information and experience on rooftop photovoltaic power systems, or solar rooftops.

Webinars will be held every Friday afternoon, starting June 11, 2021. Topics to be discussed are available on the ministry's Instagram account @kesdm.

"With the current challenges, the realized utilization of new, renewable energy (NRE) is around 11%. According to the National Energy Policy, the NRE utilization is targeted to increase to 23% by 2025. On the other hand, of the total NRE potential around 400 Giga Watt, 50% is solar energy. This is an opportunity for the young generation to actively participate in accelerating the utilization of Indonesia's solar rooftops," said Ariana Soemanto, Coordinator for Communication and Public Information of the Ministry of EMR at the first webinar (11/6).

Ariana invited the young generation to become clean energy activists by getting the knowledge about new, renewable energy, particularly solar energy. "First, get the knowledge. In the webinars, we'll learn the A-to-Z about solar power plants, for example the policy, components and installation of solar rooftops, economic calculations, savings, and commercialization. Participants are expected to join the webinars, from the first one until the fourth every Friday afternoon," continued Ariana.

After participating in the webinar series, Ariana continued, potential participants can also be given further training. The participants are then expected to implement their knowledge by approaching and collaborating with potential markets to install solar rooftops. "We'll also provide further assistance, including networking," Ariana said.

The first webinar held Friday afternoon (11/6) discussed the topic "The Challenges of PV installations: Case Study for Solar Rooftop PV" and presented 2 experts, namely Dr. Ing Eko Adhi Setiawan, Director of Tropical Renewable Energy Center, Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia, and Ir. Linus Andor Mulana Sijabat, IPU. FIRSE, Director of Business Strategy and Portfolio of state electronic company PT Len Industri (Persero).

Eko said that the energy sector was the right place for the young generation to make innovations. This condition has also continuously been encouraged by efforts to improve technical and financial understanding as well as broading the experience in developing the NRE business, especially solar energy. "Right now, everyone is working hard--utility companies are thinking about how they can survive, how they can play a role in the future energy sector with technologies that lower price. Your experience, thinking, and innovation will stop if you don't do anything from now," he said.

Based on his research, Eko said that Vietnam is a good example of a country that has massively encouraged the solar panel industry. To develop utility-scale solar PV, flexibility is given to mobilize funding from all sources, including foreign funding, income tax is exempted for the first four years, and permission is granted to the private sector to build transmission lines. "The driver of such development is not technology, but attractive policies (for investors). They don't care about local contents," Eko said.

On the same occasion, Linus compared solar PV tariff that has been increasingly competitive from year to year. In fact, he predicts that in the next five years, 20% of the existing power plants will be those of solar. "In 2015, the (PV) tariff from IPP was around 25 cents per kWh, now many people can sell solar electricity at 6 cents per kWh. So, if you use PV, the price can drop drastically," he explained.

Rooftop solar systems, continued Linus, can also reduce emissions. Linus also gave an example how solar rooftops could reduce electricity bills. "If we install 1 kW on a 6 square meter roof, we can save Rp2.6 million per year," he said.

The second to the fourth webinars will be held every Friday afternoon, with both technical and practical materials to complement each other. For more information, follow the Instagram account of Ministry of EMR @kesdm. (IY)

Head of Bureau of Communication, Public Information Services, and Cooperation

Agung Pribadi (08112213555)

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