Coal Phase-out and the Potential Role of Nuclear Power in the Low Carbon Electricity Sector in Indonesia

Abstract

The covid-19 pandemic has altered the course of the economy all over the world, including Indonesia. Government policy to resort to social restriction and working from home has increased household consumption of energy but reduce the commercial use of energy. Economic growth is greatly affected by the pandemic and had surged to -5.32% during the pandemic but has been increased before the second wave of the pandemic strikes. In the long-term, the economy and electricity consumption are expected to recover. The recent plan to phase out coal from the energy generation sector has provided the pathway for New and Renewable Energy (NRE) in providing more environmentally friendly electricity to support the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Electricity demand-supply analysis is performed using LEAP and the result demonstrated that full utilization of NRE will reduce GHG emission by more than 700 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent in 2050 and renewable energy mix goal may be achieved in 2050. However, development of smart grid and energy storage should also be developed to compensate the intermittency of wind and solar electricity. Factors such as power generation cost, land requirement, externalities, and grid stability should be carefully studied in order to assure that the electricity produced is affordable and do not pose burden in form of government subsidies.