Bappenas: Project Readiness Key to Accelerating Hydropower Investment

The Ministry of National Development Planning (PPN)/National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) considers project readiness to be the key to developing hydropower plants (PLTA) so that they can obtain financing and proceed to the construction stage. Deputy for Infrastructure at the Ministry of PPN/Bappenas, Abdul Malik Sadat, stated that hydropower projects have a long development cycle, meaning technical, environmental, social, licensing, institutional, and financing aspects must be prepared from the outset. “It is important from the beginning that we apply HydroSelect and the Hydropower Sustainability Standard so that bankability increases,” said Abdul at the Indonesia Hydropower Summit 2026 in Jakarta on Wednesday. He explained that HydroSelect is an initial screening instrument to identify 12 environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks at the concept and pre-feasibility stages of a project. According to Abdul, the application of these two instruments can improve project quality and feasibility, making it easier to obtain support from financing institutions, investors, contractors, and international supply chains. The government, through the 2025–2034 Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL), is targeting an additional generating capacity of 69.5 gigawatts (GW). As much as 76 per cent of this additional capacity will come from new and renewable energy and energy storage systems, including the development of 11.7 GW of hydropower.