Govt to set up public utility specialized in renewable energy

The government is planning to set up a new state owned electricity firm specialized in developing power plants using renewable energy as an alternative to the existing public utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) (PLN), the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said in a statement on Thursday.

The ministry called the new firm ?PLN for New and Renewable Energy (EBT)?.

?The EBT PLN will become a solution to the limitations experienced by conventional PLN in terms of budget in developing energy and resources aimed to support the government?s ambitious target for new and renewable energy in the national energy mix,? Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said said in the statement, without providing details.

The blueprint of the national energy development, called the National Economic Policy, approved by the House of Representatives and the government back in 2014 targets the percentage of new and renewable energy in the national energy mix at 23 percent in 2025, almost four times as much as it is now.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon