SUN Energy: 100 GW Renewable Energy Target Requires Adaptive Regulation
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Chief Executive Officer of SUN Energy, Emmanuel Jefferson, stated that the government’s target to develop renewable energy (EBT) capacity up to 100 gigawatts (GW) must be accompanied by regulations that are more adaptive to high industrial demand and financial support to ensure clean energy investment opportunities can be realised.
Jefferson noted that demand for solar power plants (PLTS) is showing significant growth. However, this high level of interest cannot be fully accommodated due to regulatory limitations, including quotas for rooftop solar.
“The queue of people wanting to use rooftop solar is higher than the available quota. How regulation adapts to accommodate that demand—how it facilitates and includes incentives—is the key issue,” said Jefferson during the BIG Strategic Forum 2026 in Jakarta on Tuesday.
According to him, this situation indicates that policies need to continuously adjust to the evolving demand within the industrial sector. Developers often have to ask potential customers to wait until the next quota cycle, even though some companies have already received clean energy usage targets from their overseas headquarters.
He believes this condition poses a challenge to achieving renewable energy development targets because demand from the private sector is already established. Therefore, clean energy capacity targets need to be translated through policies that provide greater space for private sector participation.
In addition to regulation, incentives are deemed necessary to encourage electrification in sectors that have traditionally relied on fossil fuels. One such example is the mining industry, which wishes to transition operational vehicles from diesel to electric.
“If the mining industry wants to switch cars from diesel to electric, there are no incentives yet. Therefore, the incentive for them is not yet sufficient and could be further encouraged,” he said.
Regarding financing, SUN Energy observes that international investor interest in renewable energy projects in Indonesia is actually quite large. The company reported meeting potential investors from China, the Middle East, the United States, Europe, and various other regions.
However, the challenge lies in ensuring that available projects possess the economic viability and risk structures that make them bankable.
This issue becomes more complex as interest rates rise and the Rupiah experiences depreciation. Such conditions can increase project capital expenditures (Capex) and make projects that were previously considered financially viable less attractive.
“Capex remains the same as last year, but this year it has increased by 30 per cent due to depreciation alone. And with rising interest rates, many projects that were previously bankable may become unbankable,” he noted.
To strengthen project economics, SUN Energy is encouraging innovation in incentive provision, including performance-based schemes for power plants. Such schemes could provide larger incentives to plants that are able to maintain performance and supply energy optimally.
He cited the experience in Australia, which provides incentives to power plants that supply electricity to the grid based on their performance. He suggested that such a scheme could serve as a reference in designing policies to accelerate renewable energy investment in Indonesia.
According to SUN Energy, the acceleration of renewable energy development depends not only on setting capacity targets but also on the government’s ability to create an ecosystem that brings together industrial demand, regulatory certainty, and competitive financing.