Prabowo promises award if 100 GWp solar power plants completed in two years

President Prabowo Subianto has promised to award state honours to the energy team in the Red and White Cabinet if they are able to complete the target of building 100 gigawatt peak (GWp) of solar power plants within two years.

“If it is completed in two years, the energy team will receive another star, yes. I will give a four-year target,” said Prabowo at the launch of the 100 GWp solar power programme in Jembrana, Bali, Monday, as quoted from the official broadcast of the Presidential Secretariat online in Jakarta.

Prabowo had previously set a target for the construction of solar power plants with a capacity of 100 GWp to be realised within three years. However, the President then challenged the energy team to complete the national strategic project much faster.

According to him, the construction of 100 GWp of solar power is a major undertaking because the total capacity of all national power plants currently stands at 88 GW, sourced from coal, oil, gas and geothermal.

“To give an idea, all of Indonesia’s electricity now is 88 gigawatts from coal, oil, gas and geothermal. We are going to build 100 gigawatts and we are not playing around. Our target is 100 gigawatts in three years,” said Prabowo.

To ensure the target is achieved, the President directly confirmed the readiness of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, the President Director of PLN and the President Director of Pertamina before the invited guests.

Prabowo stressed that the Red and White Cabinet is focused on delivering tangible results for the public. He also mentioned the food self-sufficiency programme, which was originally targeted for completion in four years but was successfully realised in just one year by the agriculture team.

“Previously, I gave the food self-sufficiency programme a four-year target, and the food team achieved it in one year. That means if I give the energy team a three-year target, well… two years then,” said the President.

The success of acceleration in the energy sector is considered evidence of the government’s ability to speed up national development for the welfare of the people.