NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY BILL: INDONESIA’S EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE “AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY” SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL (SDG)?

On June 14,  2022,  during a House of Representative (or Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat “DPR”) Plenary Meeting,  a New and Renewable Energy Bill was passed as an initiative of the DPR. The Chairman of the Energy Commission of the House of Representatives Sugeng Suparwoto and the Director General of New,  Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation, stated that the New and Renewable Energy Bill would be passed before the G20 Summit in Bali in November 2022.

The New and Renewable Energy Bill distinguishes between new energy and renewable energy. According to the provisions of Article 9 of the Bill,  New Energy Sources include nuclear,  hydrogen,  coal bed methane,  coal liquefaction, coal gasification, and other New Energy Sources.

Meanwhile,  Article 30 of the New and Renewable Energy Bill classifies Renewable Energy Sources as consisting of geothermal;  wind;  biomass;  sunlight;  streams and waterfalls;  garbage,  waste of agricultural and plantation products,  waste,  or manure of farm animals;  movement and temperature differences of the ocean layers; and other renewable energy sources, as Renewable Energy.

When compared to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the New and Renewable Energy Bill is in line with point 7, related to “Clean and Affordable Energy”, which encourages energy efficiency and the regulation of fossil fuels and renewable energy.
The existence of the New and Renewable Energy Bill is expected to be the basis for an energy transition, namely from fossil energy to New and Renewable Energy.

Pursuant to that, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has also committed to achieving Net Zero Emissions by 2060.2 However,  the New and Renewable Energy Bill does not indicate an energy transition. In the New and Renewable Energy Bill,  it is still clear that fossil fuel is “included” in the New Energy category, which lists nuclear power and energy produced by coal derivatives.

Therefore, the Bill itself is insufficient to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, the New and Renewable Energy Bill is considered less focused on renewable energy to achieve the SDGs.

The existence of the New and Renewable Energy Bill should be a legal basis to maximize investment in clean energy to achieve net zero emissions as soon as possible.
(DBS/YAN)