Promoting Electric Vehicles, Prabowo Targets Halting Fuel Imports in Three Years

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – President Prabowo Subianto targets Indonesia to be able to halt all fuel import activities within the next two to three years to strengthen national energy independence. Prabowo is also promoting the conversion of diesel power plants to new renewable energy (EBT) and vehicle electrification. “Perhaps in two or three years, we won’t need to import fuel at all,” said President Prabowo in his speech while inaugurating the VKTR electric-based commercial vehicle assembly plant in Magelang, Central Java, on Thursday (9/4/2026). He explained that this target will be achieved through the 100-gigawatt electrification programme, which is expected to be completed in two years. This programme includes the closure of 13 PLN-owned diesel power plants (PLTD) that have been consuming large amounts of diesel. According to the President, closing these dozen PLTDs can directly save up to 200,000 barrels of diesel per day. Currently, Indonesia still imports one million barrels of fuel per day, so reducing diesel use will cut import dependency by 20 percent. In addition to electrifying power plants, the government is also encouraging the use of electric vehicles and the utilisation of other renewable energy sources, such as processing palm oil and used cooking oil into aviation fuel. Prabowo emphasised that massive investments will be allocated for building processing centres or refineries to support this transformation. “We will be independent, we will be strong, we will stand on our own feet,” said Prabowo. Prabowo inaugurated the electric-based commercial vehicle assembly facility in Magelang as part of efforts to promote downstreaming and industrialisation of technology domestically. Through increasing production capacity to 10,000 bus units per year, the government aims to strengthen the national automotive ecosystem while gradually raising the Domestic Component Level (TKDN) to 80 percent. The operation of this plant also serves as a strategic instrument in supporting the national energy transition from fossil fuel dependency to clean energy use.