Govt hopes US to invest in electricity sector

By Febry Silaban

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources expects the U.S. investors to invest in Indonesia?s electricity sector..

Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Susilo Suswoutomo explained the challenges faced by Indonesia today is the low electrification ratio in many regions of the country.

"We explained that Indonesia needs to build new power plants with a total capacity of 5,000 MW every year (to increase the electrification ratio)," Susilo told reporters on the sidelines of the United States-Indonesia Energy Policy Dialogue in Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta on Monday .

Susilo said the government hoped the U.S investors to develop power using renewable energy, which Indonesia has in abundance. For instance, Indonesia has the largest geothermal energy reserves in the world..

"Our geothermal resources are huge. We expect the geothermal energy could produce new power plants with 400 MW capacity each year," he said.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon