How sunlight and solar panels can help create a cleaner Indonesia

As a country sitting on the equator, Indonesia is blessed with reliable sunshine all year round. It’s a great resource to tap into as not only can sunlight be converted into energy easily, but it also emits no harmful waste.

So, it was not surprising when the government decided to focus more on solar energy starting last year. After all, the country hopes to keep its commitment to the Paris Agreement, limiting the annual global temperature rise below 2°C. This target can be achieved by, among other things, using low-emission energy sources.

As part of the global movement, Indonesia aims to increase the proportion of renewable energy to 23% by 2025 and 31% by 2050. The government has been providing support for electric vehicles, and plans to deploy a total of 5,000 megawatts (MW) solar power and stop the construction of new fossil fuel plants by 2030.

The next question is, should the government be the lone fighter in this battle?

If we look at the World Resources Institute’s data on Climate Watch in 2020, the most significant contributor to the global greenhouse gas emissions (24.2%) is industries. Thus, having clean energy employed at an industrial scale is the right next thing to do if the country wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. Once industries are in, then the heaviest burden is lifted.

That’s what APRIL is aspiring to as part of our APRIL2030 commitment. Last year we successfully installed 1MW of solar panels in our operations in Pangkalan Kerinci, and will eventually install a total of 20MW, making it one of the largest private solar installations in Indonesia.

During the trial, the 1MW of solar panels provided enough energy for 500 houses.

This is the power of one company transitioning into clean energy. Imagine if many more companies do the same. It will help accelerate the government's sustainable energy development program and create a cleaner, greener, and fairer Indonesia for our kids to grow.

Moving into clean energy is the right thing to do. Let’s be suncatchers together.