Indonesia-Singapore Finalise Clean Electricity Export Plan, Riau Islands Prepared as Technology Industry Hub
Indonesia’s plan to export clean electricity to Singapore is positioned not merely as an energy trade transaction. The government also intends to leverage incoming investment in high-technology industries.
Through the availability of green energy, the government hopes that global companies will be attracted to build production facilities and technology centres in the Batam, Bintan, and Karimun (BBK) region. Consequently, the region has the potential to develop into a new green industrial centre in Indonesia.
“I have already received reports that the industrial zone is almost finalised. We will build it in the Riau Islands region. And I am currently finalising this. Once that is complete, I believe this is one of the advances in our preparations,” said Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia during a meeting with Singapore’s Minister for Manpower and energy official Tan See Leng in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, 15 March local time.
In line with this, Minister Tan See Leng welcomed the technical progress regarding this cooperation. “I believe most of the technical discussions have made good progress,” said Tan See Leng.
In the meeting, both nations also discussed the development of sustainable industrial zones in Batam, Bintan, and Karimun. The government is preparing a scheme to ensure that domestic electricity needs remain prioritised before export, whilst also opening opportunities for low-carbon technology cooperation such as Carbon Capture Storage (CCS). “Regarding CCS, I have already prepared the regulations. We can then conduct collaboration,” said Bahlil.
Another matter that was the focus of discussion in this meeting concerned electricity exports. Bahlil offered electricity exports sourced from solar power plants (PLTS), in line with the 100-gigawatt (GW) electrification programme being built to meet domestic needs and also be exported to neighbouring countries. However, there is a challenge from a price perspective, where green energy prices are more expensive than fossil fuel energy prices.
Closing the meeting, both ministers agreed that this synergy represents a demonstration of energy leadership in ASEAN. With technical support and investment from Singapore and abundant resources from Indonesia, the vision of becoming a key player in the green energy supply chain is now on the right track. Practical implementation through a pilot project in the BBK region is expected to begin shortly as concrete evidence of the three memorandums of understanding that were previously signed.