An economic burden worth Rp124 trillion (US$7.6 billion) could be prevented through the early retirement plan of the Cirebon-1 and Pelabuhan Ratu Coal-fired Power Plants (PLTU), a Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) report says.

The latest report from CREA states that the closure of these two PLTUs will prevent Indonesia from the impact of air pollution that has the potential to cause death in the period of 2036-2048.

Katherine Hasan, CREA Analyst, said the economic burden caused by air pollution could reach Rp67 trillion for the Cirebon-1 PLTU and Rp57 trillion for the Pelabuhan Ratu PLTU.

“The economic benefits of early shutdown of Cirebon-1 and Pelabuhan Ratu PLTUs will far exceed the funding requirement of US$1.13 billion,” Katherine said on Tuesday, February 4, 2025.

She cited that the transition must be carried out by relying on renewable energy to take advantage of these economic benefits.

According to her, the early retirement plan for the Cirebon-1 PLTU is in line with the energy transition ambition mapped out in the West Java Regional Energy General Plan (RUED).

Although the renewable energy capacity in West Java currently reaches 3.7 Gigawatts (GW), a total of 4.6 GW of prospective renewable energy projects have been mapped and spread across the province.

Solar and hydropower projects lead with the highest total prospective capacity. West Java can exceed its 2030 target of 6.8 GW by ensuring solar and hydropower are on track and pushing forward efforts to map wind, geothermal and bioenergy projects.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Bahlil Lahadalia, said that Indonesia still plans to carry out early retirement of the Cirebon-1 PLTU, as part of Indonesia's commitment to achieving net zero emissions (NZE) 2060.

"As a form of our commitment, Indonesia is retiring the 660 Megawatt (MW) Cirebon-1 PLTU early, seven years before the retirement date, we are withdrawing it," Bahlil said on Monday, February 3, 2025.

Early retirement of Cirebon-1 PLTU can be executed because there is financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). After calculations, early retirement of Cirebon-1 PLTU is economically possible.

"So we want early retirement with two conditions, first there is someone who finances it, and when we calculate it, it doesn't burden the state too much, doesn't burden State power utility company PLN, and doesn't burden the people. If there is someone who finances it cheaply like this, thank God. If possible, we can retire every one (of them)," Bahlil said.