Eddy Soeparno Talks About Opportunities for Green Jobs in the Renewable Energy Transition
Deputy Speaker of the MPR RI from the PAN faction, Eddy Soeparno, emphasised that accelerating the transition to renewable energy must become a national industrialisation strategy. This would provide direct benefits to domestic industry and create new jobs—green jobs—for Indonesia’s skilled workforce.
This was conveyed by Eddy during the MPR Goes to Campus series with Padjadjaran University’s Graduate School of Environmental Science and Sustainability. Padjadjaran University’s Graduate Campus was the 43rd stop in the MPR Goes to Campus series initiated by Eddy.
In front of more than 200 postgraduate students at Unpad, Eddy explained that Indonesia has a highly strategic comparative advantage with national renewable energy potential reaching thousands of gigawatts, with a significant mix of solar, hydro, wind, bioenergy, and geothermal. However, utilisation is far from optimal.
Moreover, the UI Doctor of Political Science explained Indonesia’s advantages in critical minerals such as nickel and copper, which are crucial for electric vehicle batteries, BESS, and renewable energy infrastructure. If the supply chain for this industry is produced and processed domestically, the energy transition can become an engine of national economic growth.
He further stressed that the implementation of the RUPTL 2025-2034 could create more than 1.7 million green jobs and contribute to annual GDP growth of 0.1-0.7 percent.
“Green jobs will open opportunities for engineers, technicians, battery experts, solar panel manufacturing workers, BESS operators, and researchers and innovators. Indonesian youth must be the main players, not merely spectators in the transition to clean energy,” Eddy said in a statement on Wednesday (4 March 2026).
According to the PAN chairman, the RUPTL 2025-2034 plans to add installed capacity of 69.5 GW, of which 42.6 GW comes from renewable energy and an additional 10.3 GW from BESS (Battery Energy Storage System). Total investment required through 2034 is estimated at around USD 190 billion, or about USD 19 billion per year.
“That USD 190 billion investment figure represents a new opportunity for industrialisation. All efforts must be made so that Indonesia becomes an attractive country for investment in renewable energy. The question is: will we merely be a market for imported solar panels, batteries, and turbines? Or do we want to produce them domestically?” he asserted.
He added that synergies between nature-based solutions and engineered-based solutions can strengthen national economic and energy resilience. With large natural carbon reserves from forests, mangroves and peatlands, and significant CCS/CCUS potential, Indonesia has the opportunity to build an integrated low-carbon economic ecosystem.
“If we can build domestic-production-based renewable energy industries, strengthen domestic manufacturing, and strategically utilise critical minerals, Indonesia could become a producer and exporter of low-carbon technology as well. This would reinforce Indonesia’s geopolitical position as a leader of the Global South,” he said.
He concluded with a message to academics and postgraduate students to take on strategic roles in policy making and technology innovation.
“Universities should become centres of research, innovation, and incubating the green industry. The energy transition must be a national agenda enjoyed by domestic industry and create green jobs for the Indonesian people,” he closed.