(in photo above) A total of 75 participants from the priority sectors of household, building, industrial, transportation, and electricity attended the first stakeholder dialogue session for the West Nusa Tenggara 100% Renewable Energy Roadmap Development project.
The first dialogue session of the West Nusa Tenggara (WNT) 100% RE 2050 Roadmap concluded last 3 February 2022, signalling a promising start in the province’s journey towards net-zero emissions by 2050. It follows a kickoff meeting held last last 22 November.
The WNT 100% RE 2050 Roadmap will serve as a guideline for the local government in transitioning to clean energy.
Shared Vision: Realizing WNT 100% Renewables 2050
Ir. Muhammad Husni M.Si, WNT Province Assistant Governor for Economic Development, presented the province’s vision “To achieve 100% renewable energy in West Nusa Tenggara in all sectors by 2050” during the opening session titled: “Shared Vision, Policy Dialogue, and Public Consultation.”
Developed by the Project Implementation Team (PIT) members and approved by the WNT Provincial Government, the vision will guide WNT’s renewable energy and energy independence journey. This journey is also expected to result in significant gains for local communities via the creation of green jobs and opportunities.
As such, the vision must be incorporated into the region’s medium- and long-term development plans.
Policy Dialogue Towards WNT 100% RE 2050
Indonesia needs national and local policy dialogues to develop the recommendations essential for WNT’s 100% RE 2050 Roadmap implementation.
Ari Mochamad (Country Manager of ICLEI Indonesia); Ir. Muhammad Husni (WNT Province Assistant Governor for Economic Development); and Ir. Zainal Abidin, M.Si (WNT Province Head of Energy and Mineral Resources Department) engaging with the participants in the stakeholder discussion sessions.
Political, institutional, and legal hurdles are just some of the various challenges the roadmap is currently facing. These include the minimal involvement of local governments in national energy planning, the lack of inter-institutional coordination, and the inconsistency and uncertainty of the regulations governing renewable energy deployment.
These challenges may be attributed to the government’s limited fiscal allocation and the need for alternative funding mechanisms for RE implementation. The perceived high risk of RE investments also poses a constraint. On top of these economic and fiscal implications, social and environmental factors also have to be taken into account.
The dialogue’s participants recommended the following to overcome these challenges:
- Information, education, and communication campaign on RE and energy conservation targeting the government, business owners, the private sector, and society at large.
- Policy formulation to mainstream RE in regional plans such as spatial and regional planning policy (RTRW), the regional medium-term development plan (RPJMD), general regional energy plan (RUED), and local fiscal policy.
- Preparation of local human resource competencies through vocational schools and job training centers involving RE.
- Preparation of regional fiscal instruments to encourage private sector investment in RE through project development facility, infrastructure cash support/VGF, RE subsidies, and local tax incentives.
- Preparation of region-owned enterprises in RE to mobilize and support local governments’ vision towards 100% RE in 2050.
Public Consultations to Solicit Inputs for the WNT 100% RE 2050 Roadmap Draft
A public consultation was also held to obtain input from stakeholders for the roadmap draft. 75 consultation participants attended composed of those from the priority sectors identified in the WNT 100% RE modeling results, namely household, building, industrial, transportation, and electricity.
PT EBI presents the initial draft of the WNT 100% RE 2050 Roadmap.
Before the discussion, Ery Wijaya from PT Energi Biru Indonesia (EBI) gave an overview of the crucial elements to include in the Roadmap, namely: principles, stakeholder participation and responsibilities, timelines, SWOT analyses, strategies, actions, and recommendations.
In general, the objectives, strategies, and actions formulated in the roadmap draft were agreed upon by the stakeholders. However, they noted that more comprehensive indicators need to be set and RE policy gaps must be crucially addressed.
One of the participants, Ruju Rahmat from Mataram Vocational school, appreciated the WNT government’s commitment to achieving the 100% RE 2050 vision.
“WNT has abundant RE potential, and the region has prepared the human resources to support the target. Hence, technical ability is no longer a barrier,” said Ruju. He added that besides vocational schools, there are also universities which in the last five years have produced technical personnel in the RE field.
Funded by IKI BMU, the WNT 100% RE 2050 Roadmap project has been implemented by ICLEI since 2019. Read more about it HERE.
