Indonesian State oil and gas company PT Pertamina has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with PT LEN to develop a local PV industry, the company has announced. The current Indonesian solar capacity is 17MW and PT Pertamina hopes to boost the solar industry by producing solar cells locally instead of having to import them. To date, only modules and PV systems are manufactured in Indonesia, cells have to be imported.
“The government through Presidential Decree No. 5/2006 requires that by 2025 solar-powered energy should account for 0.2 to 0.3 percent of the country’s total energy supplies,” Pertamina president director Karen Agustiawan said. “By establishing a solar PV industry, we can increase the utilization of renewable energy which later will promote a national self-sustainability of solar power and create jobs, as well as triggering economic development.”
0.2 to 0.3% are equivalent to 1,000MW, which would require an increase of 65MW per year in order to reach that goal by 2025.