Jakarta. The Batang Toru Hydroelectric Power Plant will play a key part in fulfilling Indonesia’s commitment to reduce carbon dioxide under the Paris Agreement.
The largest economy in Southeast Asia has committed to slash its carbon dioxide emissions by 29 percent by 2030, or even up to 41 percent if it receives technological assistance and funding from the international community.
The House of Representatives has ratified the agreement into law, binding the government into making an active effort to reduce at least 1.6 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Indonesia’s effort to curb carbon emission focuses on preventing forest and peatland clearing – the activities that emit most carbon in the country. But it also needs to shift its power generation from oil fuel and coal to renewable resources to be able to meet the commitment.
“The Batang Toru Hydroelectric Power Plant is part of the implementation of the commitment,” Firman Taufick, the vice president of communication and external affairs at North Sumatra Hydro Energy (NSHE), told the Jakarta Globe earlier this month.
Batang Toru Hydroelectric Power Plant is an independent power producer (IPP) project built by NSHE.
The company signed a power purchase agreement with state utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara on Dec. 21, 2015.
The power plant is expected to be operational by 2022 and will supply electrical energy of 2.124 gigawatt-hour every year, contributing to 15 percent of peak load demand in North Sumatra.
Rida Mulyana, the director general of electricity at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said Indonesia expects renewable energy to account for 23 percent of its total energy use in 2025 and 31 percent in 2050.
