JAKARTA, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Multiple opportunities lie ahead in Indonesia's development of its electrical power infrastructure and mineral processing industry, and it welcomes Chinese investors into these fields, Indonesian Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif has said.
In a recent interview with Xinhua, Tasrif said Indonesia is boosting the development of new energy so as to reach its climate targets, including achieving net zero emissions by 2070 or earlier. This involves cleaning out old thermal power stations and building more power stations using renewable resources on one hand, and using clean coal technology on the other.
Speaking of the existing energy structure in Indonesia, which is the world's major thermal coal exporter, Tasrif said that coal still provides nearly half of the energy supply in the Southeast Asian country, with the renewable energy such as geothermal and hydro energy merely accounting for about 11 percent.
In order to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement, "Indonesia needs to optimize its energy structure. We aim to raise the ratio of renewable energy to 23 percent by 2025," said Tasrif.
The Indonesian government is planning to make the electricity price profitable for electricity generated by renewable energy, according to him.
Tasrif told Xinhua that with increasing electricity consumption in the future, Indonesia improving its electricity-related infrastructure provides great opportunities for investors. At the same time, Indonesia fully supports the development of mineral processing industry to produce more finished products.
"Indonesia's rich nickel resources can be used for producing batteries, which will be widely used in households, communities and public transportation for energy storage in the future," said the Indonesian minister.
Developing the new energy vehicle industry is now a priority in Indonesia and Tasrif said he believes that the e-mobility push will help Indonesia cut carbon emissions. Enditem
