Indonesia, New Zealand sign MoU on renewables

The governments of Indonesia and New Zealand have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote cooperation among both and facilitate the private sector in developing renewable energy and energy conservation.

The MoU was signed by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said and New Zealand?s Minister of Trade Todd Mcclay on Monday in the presence of President Joko Widodo.

Indonesia has around 801.2 GW in renewable energy potentials. Only 8.66 GW or 1 percent of the total has been developed. The cooperation is expected to accelerate the devilment of renewables, particularly geothermal, the ministry said in a statement.

?As a country which has implemented energy efficiency principle with 80 percent of its fuel for power generation sourced from geothermal, hydropower and wind, New Zealand will become a strategic partner in accelerating the development of renewables in Indonesia, particularly geothermal,? Sudirman said.

Points covered in the MoU are as follows:

1. Exchanging information and lessons in implementing regulations and developing renewables and energy efficiency.

2. Providing technical assistance and enhancing capacity to facilitate the increasing of renewable production, particularly geothermal, including providing assistance on commercial basis.

3. Providing post-graduate study and short-term vocational training in renewables and energy conservation, including through scholarship to New Zealand and ASEAN, and short-term training program

4. Holding symposium, conferences, workshops and seminars; joint trainings, including the development of training modules and research and development activities, including technical and scientific information exchange.

5. Involving private sector from Indonesia and New Zealand in the development of renewables and energy conservation, particularly initiatives to accelerate the development of renewables and energy conservation in both countries.

Before, Indonesia and New Zealand already made cooperation in energy, particularly geothermal. New Zealand once provided technical assistance and capacity enhancement for PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE). The University of Gajah Mada also once cooperated with New Zealand Joint Geothermal Courses in developing ten training modules. New Zealand also once cooperated with the Indonesian Geothermal Association in capacity enhancement and expert exchange.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon