JAKARTA, 4 August 2023 – Indonesia and the United Kingdom on Friday agreed to extend the bilateral partnership for clean energy transition with £6.5 million (Rp 135 billion) in new funding and technical assistance from the UK to attract investment for renewable energy projects.
Called Mentari, the Indonesian acronym for “Towards Indonesia’s Energy and Low Carbon Transition”, the partnership is supposed to expire next year but it was extended to 2027 during a visit by UK Energy Security and Net Zero Minister Graham Stuart.
During a meeting with Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif in Jakarta, Stuart said that UK companies plan “to bring world-leading innovations in clean energy here along with multi-billion dollar balance sheet”.
“Now, by extending Mentari, we’re strengthening that partnership yet further as we take on the greatest challenge yet. Not just to cut emissions and increase our energy security, but seize the huge opportunities to turbocharge our economies and spread prosperity at the same time,” he said.
According to Stuart, Mentari has so far supported more than £600 million of investment in low-carbon projects through its brokerage work.
He praised Indonesia’s ambitions for net zero, with the latest roadmap outlining over 700 gigawatts of renewable energy plans.
“It’s more than ten times the UK’s capacity for producing electricity,” Stuart said. Indonesia, he said, is already on the way to becoming a global hub for renewable energy investment.
Stuart will continue his trip to Lombok on Saturday to visit one of three new mini hydro-power stations funded by the UK’s Viability Gap Fund.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Minister Arifin welcomed the extended Mentari partnership and thanked the UK government for the new funding.
“The UK has expressed commitment to doubling down its support for Indonesia’s net-zero targets. They have outlined several low-carbon energy projects and conducted a pilot project in eastern Indonesia,” Arifin said.
The bilateral partnership has been implemented in the construction of a pioneering solar power project in Sumba, West Nusa Tenggara.
In addition to Mentari, the UK government also actively supports Indonesia’s Just Energy Transitions Partnership (JETP) and Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO), he said.
“We can project that this partnership will continue to grow to promote technical cooperation, sustainable trade, and green investment between the two countries,” Arifin said.
Indonesia is inviting more international partners to accelerate the clean energy transition. The country needs $1 trillion until 2060 to transfer energy sources of its entire power plants from coal to renewables.
“The financial needs will grow because we plan an early phase-out of coal-fired power plants in the coming years. Therefore, our door is wide open to investment and partnership to achieve [the coal phase-out],” he said.