Airlangga confirms Cirebon-1 early retirement canceled, ADB funds to be shifted

By Calvin Purba

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has confirmed that the government has officially canceled the early retirement of the 660 MW Cirebon-1 coal-fired power plant under the Asian Development Bank’s Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). The government will instead nominate another, older coal plant in Java to replace Cirebon-1 in the ETM pipeline.

Airlangga said the decision was based on technical considerations, noting that Cirebon-1 still has a long remaining operating life and already uses supercritical technology, which is considered relatively more efficient and cleaner than older subcritical units.

 “Cirebon has a long remaining lifespan and already uses supercritical technology. We are therefore looking for an alternative plant that is older and has a greater environmental impact—one that truly needs to be retired,” Airlangga said on Friday (Dec. 5). He added that PLN is preparing the list of candidate plants.

He also confirmed that ADB’s ETM funding initially prepared for Cirebon-1 will be redirected to the replacement plant.

Read also : PLN cancels early retirement of Cirebon coal-fired power Plant

Petromindo previously reported that PLN had already recommended canceling the early retirement plan, citing the high penalties under the Power Purchase Agreement and the substantial investment required to replace the plant’s capacity with renewable energy. PLN estimated that accelerating Cirebon-1’s retirement by five years would trigger around Rp 60 trillion in compensation obligations alone.

PLN also noted that replacing the 600 MW–660 MW coal capacity with solar power would require at least 3,600 MW of solar generation plus battery storage, bringing total costs to an estimated Rp 130 trillion.

Given the economic burden, PLN said Indonesia will prioritize a “coal phase-down” approach—retiring units at the end of their PPA term—rather than early retirement.

President Prabowo Subianto’s Special Envoy for Energy and Climate, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, stated earlier this week that Indonesia will not pursue a coal phase-out. Hashim said the country will continue relying on coal and natural gas in its power system and will adopt a “phase-down” approach instead of eliminating fossil-fuel generation

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak