Indonesia eyes USD 70-bln electricity upgrade

Indonesia is looking to add about 35 GW of electricity production capacity in the next five years, international media reported on Friday.

Amid a general energy policy overhaul, the Indonesian government is seeking to promote private ventures that would invest around USD 73 billion in the ambitious project.

Lagging power generation capacities are a significant obstacle to development in the world’s most populous Muslim country. While four times as many people live in Indonesia as in the UK, for example, it produces and consumes only about half the electricity that the UK does.

In recent months, the country has been seeking to decrease its dependence on coal-based power plants and to build more gas-fuelled and renewable capacities.

It has also vowed to liberalise its upstream regulatory framework with the hope of attracting around USD 200 billion of investment by IOCs over the next decade.

In January, state oil company Pertamina said it had earmarked around USD 54 billion with the aim of raising domestic production of oil, gas and geothermal energy in Indonesia by about 185% to 1.91 million boepd by 2025.