Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry continues to expand and accelerate the provision of electricity access to rural areas, especially in eastern Indonesia.
"We will first boost the expansion of electricity access to eastern Indonesia, as that region is indeed our last mile to accelerate electricity provision. Both the necessary budget and acceleration steps are also being prepared," the ministry's Secretary General, Dadan Kusdiana, stated at the MENTARI Day event in Jakarta on Thursday.
MENTARI stands for 'Menuju Transisi Energi Rendah Karbon Indonesia,' or 'Progress towards a Low Carbon Energy Transition in Indonesia.'
MENTARI is a partnership between the governments of Indonesia and the United Kingdom, established to promote the adoption of low-carbon energy and support Indonesia’s just energy transition.
The program began in 2020 and is led by the British Embassy in Jakarta and the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. It is implemented by a consortium led by Palladium International and composed of Castlerock Consulting, Yayasan Humanis dan Inovasi Sosial (Hivos), and Economic Consulting Associates (ECA).
In line with this, the ministry is also enhancing infrastructure development to provide access to clean electricity and ensure economic growth for the community.
The 2025-2034 Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL) will target the construction of 49 thousand kilometers of new transmission circuits to distribute clean electricity to the community.
"Hence, this serves as our enabler for energy security. This is also a requirement that we will move towards a comprehensive, inclusive, and sustainable energy transition," he noted.
On that occasion, Kusdiana also expressed appreciation to partner countries supporting Indonesia's low-carbon energy transition.
"We express our gratitude for the support from friendly countries, developed countries, especially the United Kingdom (UK). We can continue to work together to achieve common progress and gain mutual benefits," he remarked.
The MENTARI Program represents a four-year collaboration to develop low-carbon energy in Indonesia, involving the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the British Embassy in Jakarta.
The program's first phase ran from 2020 to 2024 and was a follow-up to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the field of Low Carbon Energy Development Cooperation (LCEP) and has been amended for the 2020-2027 period.
For continued cooperation or the second phase of MENTARI, it is hoped that the lessons learned and successes from the first phase can be built upon to achieve Indonesia's climate and energy targets and to foster a stronger and more responsive global partnership on social and environmental issues.
