The Civil Society Coalition for Equitable Energy Transition sees no significant progress in Indonesia's renewable energy transition policy during the first 100 days of President Prabowo Subianto's leadership. The coalition assesses that a number of aspects in the energy transition policy − which refer to the recommendations of the eight Quick Wins submitted to the Prabowo-Gibran 8 percent Growth Team − have even regressed.

The setback can be seen from President Prabowo's move to prioritize new energy such as coal downstreaming, nuclear, carbon capture and storage/carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCS/CCUS) technology, and gas. In fact, in Quick Wins 2, the Coalition asked the government to evaluate these policies. 

Unfortunately, the government even issued Presidential Decree (Keppres) No. 1/2025 on the Task Force for the Acceleration of Downstreaming and National Energy Security. The Presidential Decree asks national banks to finance downstream projects.

“The government's move to integrate new energy and fossil energy as part of strategic policy is a setback, because we actually recommend that problematic energy sources be avoided. Like nuclear, we know it is high-risk and costly, but the government is focused on building 5 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power plants until 2040, and there are 29 nuclear power plant locations proposed by the National Energy Council (DEN). This is clearly a red report card on energy policy in the first 100 days,” Bhima Yudhistira, Executive Director of Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), said as quoted in a statement on Friday, January 24, 2025.

The coalition also highlighted the misalignment within the government regarding the coal fired power plant (PLTU) early retirement plan. During the G20 Summit in Brazil, President Prabowo expressed commitment to retiring all fossil-fueled power plants in the next 15 years. However, the early retirement commitment, which emphasized phase-out, has now shifted to phase-down.

The review of biofuel programs, such as biodiesel 50 percent (B50) and higher, and bioethanol 10 percent, is also not proceeding. Biofuels have come under scrutiny by the coalition because they risk creating long-term negative impacts and contradict Indonesia's global commitment to reduce carbon emissions. However, the government is aggressively promoting the opening of new land for food and energy without an adequate study base.

The coalition also encourages the evaluation of biomass co-firing programs in power plants, because there is a great risk of being a false solution that only prolongs dependence on coal power plants.

“The government needs to immediately review the implementation of co-firing, if it really wants to achieve higher quality and inclusive economic growth targets, without having to become a burden on the forest sector. We also see that the implementation of co-firing is full of fraud, one of which increases the tonnage of biomass by mixing with water before being burned at the PLTU. This practice clearly harms the state and lies to the public,” Anggi Putra Prayoga, Campaigner of Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI), said.

Green investment

Another quick win recommended by the Coalition is the application of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles as a requirement for obtaining investment licenses, to ensure social inclusion and maintain environmental sustainability. However, the government has yet to take concrete steps to officially implement it, even though President Prabowo has asked US investors investing in Indonesia to implement ESG.

“Strengthening and implementing ESG principles and standards should be a priority that is addressed and become part of the country's defense system from the risk of social and environmental impacts now and in the long term,” Indra Sari Wardhani, Acting Program Director of Koaksi Indonesia, said.

Furthermore, the Coalition has also not seen meaningful progress regarding quick wins in financing incentives for the transition to renewable energy for the empowerment of MSMEs and cooperatives. Although the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has expressed commitment to supporting MSMEs and cooperatives in the implementation of the energy transition, implementation is still far from adequate.

The coalition also criticized efforts to achieve the Net Zero Emission (NZE) target through the implementation of Carbon Economic Value (NEK), which has not yet been realized. This is because the government is still providing Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Certificates (SPE-GRK) for fossil fuel projects, such as PLTGU. 

The coalition urges the government to review the NEK policy and ensure that projects traded on the carbon exchange are actually proven to reduce GHG emissions significantly, not just to gain economic benefits.