President Joko Widodo has committed Indonesia to move towards zero emissions. The Head of State voiced this commitment when speaking at the World Leaders Climate Change Summit (COP28) in Dubai at the end of 2023.

At that time, President Jokowi reaffirmed Indonesia's commitment to building a prosperous and sustainable nation with inclusive economic growth. To achieve this, President Jokowi stated that he would continue to work hard to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2060.

President Jokowi also invited various parties, bilateral partners, private philanthropy, and friendly countries to collaborate on funding to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2060. One of the tools to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2060 is to boost the energy mix.

Specifically, Indonesia's energy mix must be acknowledged as still not optimal. Until the end of 2023, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) report, the realization of the energy mix only reached 13.1 percent or 238.1 Million Barrels of Oil Equivalent (MBOE).

Arifin Tasrif as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) admitted that the achievement of the energy mix was not significant. According to him, strategic efforts are needed to achieve the target of 23 percent renewable energy mix by 2025. "In 2025, we target a 23 percent mix, but we are still at the level of 13.1 percent, so there is a need for a concerted effort to approach the target by 2025," Arifin said in a press conference "Performance Achievement of the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Sector in 2023 and Work Program 2024" in Jakarta, Tuesday (Jan. 16).

Arifin Tasrif reiterated his commitment to several targets regarding the energy mix. The government is committed to realizing the development of renewable energy sources as planned in the Long-term Electricity Procurement Plan (RUPTL).

The hope is that the realization of renewable energy can reach an installed capacity of 10.6 GW by 2025. One of them is the implementation of the Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS) program, which is targeted to reach 3.6 GW by 2025.

These targets are not easy tasks; they are dreams that require the cooperation of all stakeholders to achieve them. There is only one year left to achieve them.

To accelerate the development of renewable energy and considering the rapid and competitive development in terms of price, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) is pushing for the development of Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS), both small-scale Rooftop PLTS, Floating PLTS, and large-scale PLTS scattered throughout Indonesia.

The Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS) development plan consists of the development of Rooftop PLTS with a target of 3.61 gigawatts (GW) by 2025. Floating PLTS has the potential to be developed by 26.65 GW, and large-scale PLTS is targeted to reach 4.68 GW by 2030.

The next step taken by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) is to establish the Electricity Supply General Plan (RUPTL) for PT PLN (Persero) 2021 to 2030, which is a Green Long-term Electricity Procurement Plan (RUPTL) with an additional 20.9 GW renewable energy capacity (51.6 percent) developed evenly across all electricity systems while considering the power system balance.

This Long-term Electricity Procurement Plan (RUPTL) opens up a larger role for Independent Power Producers (IPP)s, including in the development of renewable energy-based power plants, which will develop 63.7 percent of the total 4,680 MWp of solar PV power plants. Specifically for grid-connected Rooftop Solar Power Plant, the private sector will develop 54.4 percent of the total 3,236 MWp.

In this Electricity Supply General Plan (RUPTL), there are no longer plans for new coal-fired power plants except for those already committed and under construction, which also opens significant opportunities for renewable energy development to replace coal-fired power plant plans in previous RUPTLs.

In this context, the priorities of the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) 2022 in the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) sector and electricity include the installation of 79 Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS) units, 22,000 solar street lighting packages (PJU-TS), 3 mini-hydro power plants (PLTMH), 11,347 power distribution packages (APDAL), the revitalization of 11 renewable energy power plants, and assistance with 80,000 new electricity connections spread across 32 provinces.

As a government effort to achieve the target of 23 percent new and renewable energy (EBT) by 2025, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has issued Ministerial Regulation No. 26 of 2021 concerning Rooftop Solar Power Plants Connected to the Electricity Supply Network of the Electricity Supply Business License Holder for Public Interest (IUPTLU).

This Ministerial Regulation is a refinement of previous regulations and an effort to improve the governance and economics of Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS). This regulation is also a step to respond to existing dynamics and facilitate the desire of the community to obtain electricity from renewable energy sources and to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Recently, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has issued a revision to the regulations regarding the use of electricity from Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS). These regulations are stipulated in Ministerial Regulation (Permen) Mineral Resources (ESDM) No. 2 of 2024 concerning Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS) connected to the Electricity Supply Network of the Electricity Supply Business License Holder for Public Interest (IUPTLU).

This means that this Ministerial Regulation regulates Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS), especially regarding electricity export-import provisions. In the previous regulations, Rooftop PLTS developers could export electricity to Electricity Supply Business License Holder for Public Interest (IUPTLU) holders.

Now, in this latest policy, namely Ministerial Regulation (Permen) 2/2024, electricity from Regulation regulates Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS) can only be used by the developers themselves. If planning to export electricity, developers must report to PLN.

"The surplus electricity from the Rooftop PLTS System entering the IUPTLU network is not considered in determining the amount of electricity bills for Rooftop PLTS customers," Article 13 of Ministerial Regulation 2/2024 states.

Ministerial Regulation 02/2024 was issued by Arifin Tasrif as Minister of Mineral Resources (ESDM) in Jakarta on Jan. 29. This regulation contains a total of 52 articles. Regarding the complications of this new regulation, the Ministry of ESDM plans to hold a socialization of Ministerial Regulation No. 2 of 2024 concerning Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS) connected to the Electricity Supply Network of the Electricity Supply Business License Holder for Public Interest (IUPTLU).

This plan has been confirmed by Andriah Feby Misna as the Director of Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Mineral Resources. According to him, this socialization is planned to be attended by the Minister of Mineral Resources by inviting relevant stakeholders.

"Hopefully, if there are no obstacles, it will be held on March 5," he explained in Jakarta, Tuesday (Feb. 27).

The socialization will discuss the content of the regulation as well as the mechanisms of the new regulations so that users can have a clearer understanding of this latest policy.

The implementation of this socialization is eagerly awaited by business actors because there are still many points in the Ministry of Mineral Resources’ Ministerial Regulation regarding Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS) that are not yet clear. One of them is regarding the quota determination scheme.

Regarding this quota rule, Article 7 of Ministerial Regulation 2/2024 stipulates that the Electricity Supply Business License Holder for Public Interest (IUPTLU) must prepare a quota for the development of the Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS) System for each electricity system.

This preparation considers the direction of national energy policy, plans, and the realization of electricity supply business plans and the reliability of the electricity system in accordance with the provisions in the electricity system network regulations (grid code) held by the Business License Holder for Public Interest (IUPTLU).

The hope is that the issuance of this Ministerial Regulation can further accelerate the energy mix, including the use of Rooftop Solar Power Plant (PLTS), in accordance with Indonesia's commitment to achieving zero carbon emissions by 2060.

Translator: Ratna Puspa Merdika