Now Is the Time for the Government to Realize its Commitments

Hydroelectric power is cheap and the technology has been around for a long time. It\'s just the government\'s commitment to optimizing hydro potential in Indonesia.

KOMPAS/YOLA SASTRA

Musi Hydroelectric Dam, Ujan Mas Atas Village, Ujan Mas District, Kepahiang Regency, Bengkulu, Monday (27/9/2021).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The realization of the government\'s plan to increase the use of renewable energy, especially hydropower, has been highly anticipated. Indonesia has the hydropower potential of about 75,000 megawatts, but only about 6,100 MW can be produced into electricity. Besides being cheap, electricity produced from hydropower plants is more environmentally friendly.

The chairman of the Association for Micro-Hydro Power Plant Developers, Riza Husni, said that with the high hydropower potential, many investors had shown their interest to develop hydropower plants in the country. However, the absence of regulatory certainty regarding the price of renewable energy electricity had discouraged the investors, he said.