Channelling Energy for Indonesia's Future
Turning on a light only requires a single touch. However, behind that simple action lies a long energy supply chain: gas must be available at its source, transported across the sea or through pipeline networks, stored, regasified, and then delivered to power plants in the right volume, pressure, quality, and time. If one link in the chain breaks, power plants can lose fuel, electricity costs rise, and the public bears the consequences. In an archipelagic country, the problem is not merely whether gas is available, but whether gas can reach the places that need it at a reasonable price and with manageable risk.
This is where PLN Energi Gas holds a strategic role. The company cannot merely be a commodity transporter. It must become the link between gas sources, logistics infrastructure, power plant needs, electricity affordability, and the direction of the national energy transition.
PLN EPI projections announced in May 2026 estimate that gas demand for PLN power plants will rise by around 4.5% per year, from 1,748 BBTUD in 2026 to 2,490 BBTUD in 2034. LNG cargo requirements are also projected to increase from 103 to 214 cargoes, while supply based on pipeline gas contracts is expected to decline from 757 to 667 BBTUD. These figures are company projections, not certainties free from changes in demand, prices, supply, or policy. The data nonetheless sends a clear message: gas logistics needs are likely to increase precisely when pipeline supply faces pressure.
PLN Energi Gas will be required to manage dispersed sources, different transport modes, storage capacity, ship schedules, receiving facilities, and power plant needs that change constantly. Planning errors can produce two equally damaging outcomes: power plants short of gas, or the company tied to supply and infrastructure that is not absorbed.
A concrete example can be seen in Tarakan. PLN EPI cites an LNG storage and regasification facility in Gunung Belah. This model shows how LNG can reach electricity systems not connected to major pipeline networks and help reduce the use of fuel oil. For island regions, solutions can take the form of small clusters tailored to local needs, rather than always large, expensive, and rigid mega-projects.
However, increased gas use must not be read as a licence to build new fossil fuel dependence without limits. The PLN RUPTL 2025–2034, ratified through Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Decree Number 188.K/TL.03/MEM.L/2025, plans additional capacity of 69.5 gigawatts. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources details that 42.6 gigawatts, or 61%, will come from renewable energy, 10.3 gigawatts, or 15%, from energy storage systems, and 16.6 gigawatts, or 24%, from fossil fuel plants. In other words, 76% of additional capacity is directed towards renewable energy and storage.
Amid this direction, gas should be positioned as a system buffer: replacing expensive oil-fired power plants, filling needs when solar and wind supply fluctuates, and maintaining reliability while grids and energy storage remain inadequate. Gas is not the final destination.
The International Energy Agency’s Global Methane Tracker 2026 estimates that natural gas activities produced nearly 34 million tonnes of methane emissions globally in 2025. The agency also states that available technology can reduce almost 70% of methane emissions in the energy sector. This fact cannot be directly used to assess PLN Energi Gas emissions because specific measurements at company facilities are required. However, the finding confirms that environmental claims must be proven through measurement, reporting, and verification, not merely general comparisons with other fuels.
Another criticism argues that building LNG terminals, ships, pipelines, and gas power plants risks locking the system into fossil fuel assets for decades. This criticism is reasonable. Long-term contracts with minimum payment obligations can burden the system if demand growth falls short or renewable energy develops faster.
“Therefore, gas investment must be modular, based on real needs, have transparent utilisation scenarios, and not hinder the entry of clean energy,” said President Commissioner of PT PLN Energi Gas, Saiful Chaniago, as quoted on Tuesday (25/8).
Conversely, the view that all gas can be immediately replaced by renewable energy also fails to account for the conditions of every electricity system. Solar and wind are variable, while inter-island grids, energy storage, and load control remain uneven. Shutting down one source before its replacement is ready can increase the risk of power disruptions or revive diesel power plants. The rational stance is not to pit gas and renewable energy against each other in black-and-white terms, but to define gas’s role as limited, measured, and continuously shrinking in line with the strengthening of grids, storage, and clean generation.
On that basis, PLN Energi Gas needs to carry out several strategic improvements. First, the company must develop integrated supply planning based on power plant needs per hour, season, and region. Pipeline gas should be prioritised when economical and available, while LNG or other modes are used for areas that are geographically unsuitable for pipeline service. Assessment must use life-cycle project costs, including fuel prices, transport costs, gas losses, exchange rate risk, capacity reserves, and environmental costs.
Second, supply and transport contracts must have volume flexibility and price formulas that protect the public interest. Prioritising domestic sources is important for energy security, but must not eliminate price, quality, and reliability discipline. Information regarding the basis of needs, contract periods, and payment obligation risks must be transparent.