The landmark IEA-Indonesia Energy Transition Alliance will build a path to a sustainable energy future

The IEA Executive Director, Fatih Birol, and Indonesia’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Arifin Tasrif, today announced the IEA-Indonesia Energy Transition Alliance, marking a step-change in ambition for Indonesia’s energy transition.

The Alliance enhances collaboration between Indonesia and the IEA on tackling the emerging energy challenges of our time – both within Indonesia and internationally. It acts as a framework to work together to support policy development, accelerate Indonesia’s energy transition, and mobilize high-level political engagement. The Alliance will allow the IEA and Indonesia to build new partnerships and launch new workstreams to support Indonesia’s international energy leadership.

The IEA has been working closely with the government of Indonesia since 2015, and the Agency’s Clean Energy Transitions Programme has strengthened this engagement. With support from this IEA Programme, Indonesia is launching in 2021 new presidential priorities on renewable power and clean energy technologies, and a new national energy strategy and roadmap. In 2022, Indonesia will hold the Presidency of the G20. And in 2023, it will assume the Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). During this critical period of policy evolution and international leadership for Indonesia, a key imperative is to ensure economies around the world recover from the Covid-19 crisis in a sustainable, and resilient way.

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo highlighted the strong emphasis his government is putting on the landmark initiative, announcing that he “supports Indonesia's Alliance with the International Energy Agency to secure the transformation towards clean and renewable energy.”

Starting in 2021, the Alliance will underpin the IEA’s ongoing support for Indonesia’s energy transition and economic modernisation – including power system enhancement, renewables deployment, energy efficiency implementation and the strengthening of energy investment.

“As Indonesia emerges from the Covid-19 crisis and takes major steps towards growing its economy and modernising its energy sector, the decisions it takes in the next few years will have major impacts on regional and global energy trends,” said Dr Birol, the IEA Executive Director. “I am very excited to launch this new Alliance with Minister Tasrif and honoured to have the support of President Joko Widodo in this important endeavour.”

The Alliance aims to make progress in 2021 to enhance the conditions for scaling up both the IEA’s and broader international support for Indonesia’s energy ambitions. This will be underpinned by the IEA’s unique position within the G20, enabling it to support Indonesia’s Presidency in 2022. All these processes will in turn inform and strengthen the planning and formation of Indonesia’s priorities as ASEAN Chair in 2023. 

“Indonesia has set ambitious renewable energy targets outlined in energy transition policies and major national strategies, including the National Grand Strategy on Energy,” said Mr Tasrif, Indonesia’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources. “The IEA has been a key partner of Indonesia for years, helping Indonesia develop these goals – and I am pleased the IEA will scale up this support through the IEA-Indonesia Energy Transition Alliance to help materialize these targets.”

At the heart of the IEA-Indonesia collaboration on energy transitions is the IEA’s commitment to engage with key partner governments on energy policy priorities. Since Indonesia became an IEA Association country in 2015, bilateral cooperation has strengthened across a wide range of fuels and technologies, spanning areas such as digitalisation, technology implementation, investment conditions, and policy and regulatory support.

With a population of more than 270 million citizens spread across 17,000 islands, Indonesia is expected to become the world’s fourth-largest economy by mid-century. Its young population, abundant natural resources, vast untapped renewable energy potential and the President’s ambition to modernize its energy sector put Indonesia in a prime position to become a major player in the future of global energy. 

The IEA is leading clean energy transitions globally through its authoritative position as a trusted source of world-class data, analysis and policy recommendations – and through its work on the ground helping governments turn policies into action.