Tag Archives: indonesia

‘Smart grid’ helps accelerate energy transition in Indonesia

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With support from the United Nations, the electricity grid on the central islands of Java, Madura, and Bali – home to over 160 million people – is now being upgraded and modernized to accommodate fluctuating energy loads from solar and wind power.

“As a result of our cooperation with the UN, we now have a blueprint for a smart grid and are working to enable it to seamlessly integrate electricity from renewables in line with national priorities,” said Evy Haryadi, Director of Transmission and System Planning at state-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). “This will represent a huge step forward in decarbonizing Indonesia’s energy system.”

As emphasized during a recent visit to Jakarta by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Climate Action and Just Transition, Selwin Hart, the smart grid initiative—supported by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)—is an integral part of the broader UN assistance in Indonesia to ensure a just energy transition.

Solar power is widely used on the islands of Java, Madura, and Bali.

This includes work by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to bring renewable energy to remote islands not connected to the national grid, and by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to support the government in developing green skills.

“The UN in Indonesia works in close partnership with the government to support its energy transition targets in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” said Gita Sabharwal, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Indonesia. “We provide fast response solutions and technical expertise to help accelerate progress toward government objectives in green energy.”

The country’s 2025–2034 Electricity Supply Business Plan, launched in May, outlines a strategic shift toward a cleaner and investment-driven energy future. It targets 42.6 GW of new renewable power capacity and 10.3 GW of storage, while limiting new fossil fuel capacity to 16.6 GW. The plan is designed to align Indonesia’s climate commitments with the SDGs and enhance national energy resilience.

The smart grid and, at its core, the control centre that manages electricity supply and demand, are crucial to this effort. The country expects a surge in renewable generation construction once the modernization of the JAMALI Control Center is completed.

Historically, power grids were designed to receive electricity from sources with relatively constant output—such as coal, natural gas, or hydropower. However, some renewable sources function differently: solar plants generate electricity only when the sun is shining, and wind power only when the wind is blowing. In a so-called “smart grid,” the control centre must be able to adjust electricity intake from renewables and balance it with stable sources like coal, based on real-time weather conditions and consumption patterns. It will also utilize large-scale batteries to store excess electricity—for example, solar energy generated during particularly sunny periods.

Established in the early 1980s, the JAMALI grid control center covers 79% of Indonesia’s generation capacity. The smart grid system design, delivered by UNOPS, enables the control centre to incorporate renewable energy forecasting capabilities and grid analysis tools to support stability and security, among other advanced features.

The detailed engineering design for the JAMALI Main Control Center includes plans to consolidate five regional control centres into two to improve efficiency while maintaining redundancy. UNOPS also completed the tendering process and vendor selection for the design’s implementation and is building the capacity of PLN staff involved in control centre operations to manage the new technology effectively.

From design to implementation

Construction workers and engineers are now hard at work at PLN’s campus in Depok, just outside Jakarta, implementing the design provided by UNOPS. Completion of the control centre is expected by the end of 2025. During this phase, UNOPS is responsible for monitoring the selected vendors who are constructing, installing, configuring, and ultimately commissioning the new centre.

Indonesia is modernizing its electricity grid.

“UNOPS has the project management expertise and know-how to continue supporting us and ensure the seamless and timely delivery of the project, in line with the original specifications,” said PLN’s Mr. Haryadi. “At the same time, we are building our internal capacity to eventually take over the task.”

The work is progressing on schedule. The new buildings are largely completed, and installation of the industrial monitoring system—central to the control centre’s operation—is about 40 per cent complete. Based on the success of the initiative, discussions are underway to replicate the design for the four control centres that manage electricity supply on other islands across the country.

UNOPS supports this modernization under the Southeast Asia Energy Transition Partnership (ETP), which provides technical expertise to partner countries in the region to help their national energy commitments in line with Paris Agreement and the SDGs. ETP is a multi-donor partnership, supported by the governments of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and philanthropic donors.  ETP operates in Indonesia, the Philippines and Viet Nam, as well as at the ASEAN regional level, and works collaboratively to mobilize and coordinate resources to facilitate a just energy transition in the region.

“The control centre upgrade promises to be a game-changer for Indonesia’s energy mix,” Ms Sabharwal said. “Our support is an impactful example of the UN’s assistance in middle-income countries: working behind the scenes and providing core technical expertise, we support the government’s priority of energy security by fast-tracking the green transformation.” 

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India to assume G20 Presidency for a year from Dec 1; Sets priorities

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New Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS) India has listed its priorities ahead of assuming the G20 Presidency for a year from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs said: “Our G20 priorities are in the process of being firmed up, ongoing conversations inter alia revolve around:

  • Inclusive, equitable and sustainable growth;
  • LiFE (Lifestyle For Environment);
  • women’s empowerment;
  • digital public infrastructure and tech-enabled development in areas ranging from health, agriculture and education to commerce,
  • skill-mapping,
  • culture and tourism;
  • climate financing;
  • circular economy;
  • global food security;
  • energy security;
  • green hydrogen;
  • disaster risk reduction and resilience;
  • developmental cooperation;
  • fight against economic crime; and multilateral reforms”.

    Under the role, India is expected to host over 200 G20 meetings across the country, beginning from this December.

    The G20 Leaders’ Summit at the level of Heads of State Government is scheduled to be held on September 9-10, 2023 in New Delhi, said the Ministry statement.

    The G20 is an inter-governmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies.

    G20 comprises 20 countries — India, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US — and the European Union (EU).

    Collectively, the G20 accounts for 85 per cent of the global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade and two-thirds of the world population, making it the premier forum for international economic cooperation.

  • G20 flags

    India is part of the G20 Troika (current, previous and incoming G20 Presidencies), which includes Indonesia and Italy.

    “During our Presidency, India, Indonesia and Brazil would form the Troika. This would be the first time when the Troika would consist of three developing countries and emerging economies, providing them a greater voice,” the statement said.

    The G20 currently comprises Finance Track, with eight workstreams (Global Macroeconomic Policies, Infrastructure Financing, International Financial Architecture, Sustainable Finance, Financial Inclusion, Health Finance, International Taxation, Financial Sector Reforms)

    Sherpa Track, with 12 workstreams — Anti-corruption, Agriculture, Culture, Development, Digital Economy, Employment, Environment and Climate, Education, Energy Transition, Health, Trade and Investment, Tourism.

    Ten Engagement Groups of private sector/civil society/independent bodies (Business 20, Civil 20, Labour 20, Parliament 20, Science 20, Supreme Audit Institutions 20, Think 20, Urban 20, Women 20 and Youth 20).

    In addition to G20 members, there has been a tradition of the G20 Presidency inviting some guest countries and international organizations to its meetings and summit.

    Accordingly, in addition to regular international organizations (UN, IMF, World Bank, WHO, WTO, ILO, FSB and OECD) and Chairs of Regional Organizations (AU, AUDA-NEPAD and ASEAN).

    India, as G20 Presidency, will be inviting Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and UAE as guest countries, as well as the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the Asian Development Bank as guest international organizations.

Rare Tapanuli Orangutan to be extinct soon, thanks to China’s mega dam

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A Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Credit: Maxime Aliaga

The rare Tapanuli Orangutan, discovered last year in Sumatra, Indonesia, and one of the rarest animals on the planet could become an extinct species soon unless urgent action is invoked to reign in on a mega dam in China, said a team of global scientists.

Besides the usual deforestation, the researchers have pointed out that the Batang Toru project being constructed by Chinese state-owned corporation Sinohydro as the major threat to the survival of the rare orangutan.

“This is just the seventh species of Great Ape ever discovered, and it could go extinct right before our eyes,” said Prof. Jatna Supriatna from the University of Indonesia. Echoing similar view, William Laurance from James Cook University in Australia, co-author of the study said, “In 40 years of research, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything this dramatic.”

A baby Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Credit: Maxime Aliaga

Currently, fewer than 800 of the apes are surviving facing assault from mega-projects, deforestation, road building, and poaching, explained Sean Sloan, lead author of the article in Current Biology. “Their entire remaining habitat is unbelievably small, less than a tenth the size of Sydney, Australia,” said Sloan.

The authors are vehemently zeroing in on the culprit — the planned $1.6 billion Batang Toru mega dam that would go into construction phase soon, relegating the available forest cover for the Tapanuli orangutan, driving them to extinction.

“If it proceeds, the dam will flood crucial parts of the ape’s habitat, while chopping up its remaining habitat with new roads and powerlines,” said Supriatna.

Since the rare ape survives only in areas with virtually no roads, the project will stifle their livelihood, said researchers. “This is a critical test for China and Indonesia. They say they want sustainable development–but words are cheap,” said Laurance. “This could be ecological Armageddon for one of our closest living relatives,” he quickly added.

A Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Credit: Maxime Aliaga

What IUCN says?

The newly described Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) exists in an isolated area in around 1100 km2 of forests in the Central, North and South districts of Tapanuli, in the province of North Sumatra.

Until recently, it was thought that only two species of orangutan existed; the Bornean (Pongo pygmaeus) and Sumatran (Pongo abelii). Orangutans are found only in Indonesia and Malaysia and are listed as Critically Endangered on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

“It is rather amazing that this population of orangutans differs so much from the orangutans in the north of Sumatra and that even today, after many decades of intensive research on Great Apes, a new species of this primate family can still be discovered” stated Dr. Ian Singleton, Director of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), who has worked on improving protection of the Tapanuli orangutans and their habitat since 2005.

The Tapanuli orangutan was initially found by scientists in 1997, but was not confirmed as a separate species until 2017. To reach that conclusion, researchers needed to closely examine the genetic, morphological and behavioural traits which differed from the other two known orangutan species.

“Despite only just now being described, with less than 800 left, the Tapanuli orangutan is already the most endangered great ape species in the world” stated Matthew Nowak, co-author of the recently published ‘Population Habitat Viability Analysis for Orangutans’ and Director of Research at the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme. ”

The Red List status of this new orangutan is currently being assessed, but conservation concerns for the species are high. This is due to a small population, slow reproduction levels, concerns over local habitat destruction, and killing.

Researchers involved in the definition of this new species included experts from the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Primate Specialist Group (including Ian Singleton, Matthew Nowak and Serge Wich).