Indonesia's clean power exports to Singapore pushed back

Indonesia's planned exports of low-carbon electricity to Singapore will not begin this year as the required transmission infrastructure is still under development, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said.

Airlangga said construction of the transmission facilities needed to support the project would take between one and one-and-a-half years.

"It cannot be done this year. Building electricity transmission facilities will take at least one to one-and-a-half years," he told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The government, through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is currently reviewing technical aspects of the project.

Indonesia and Singapore signed an agreement last year under which Indonesia is expected to export up to 3.4 gigawatts (GW) of low-carbon electricity to the city-state by 2035.

Airlangga said the government hopes implementation of the agreement can be finalized during an upcoming leaders' meeting.

Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia had previously insisted that electricity exports should be accompanied by reciprocal investments. The discussions subsequently led to an agreement to jointly develop a sustainable industrial zone in the Batam, Bintan and Karimun (BBK) area of Riau Islands Province.

Editing by Alexander Ginting