Indonesian state-owned electricity company PT PLN (Persero) has proposed that Indonesia’s electricity exports under the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) initiative, including exports to Singapore, be coordinated and mandated through a single state-owned enterprise (SOE).
“Given that we operate within the ecosystem of neighboring countries and the plans for the ASEAN Power Grid, cross-border electricity trading is inevitable,” said Yusuf Didi Setiarto, PLN’s Director of Legal and Human Capital Management, during a discussion with Commission XII of the House of Representatives in Jakarta on the Draft of the new Electricity Law.
Yusuf cited the precedent of gas exports to Singapore, which are currently managed exclusively by state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina (Persero), as a model for consolidating export mandates within a single state enterprise.
“We have a good precedent with gas exports to Singapore, consolidated by Pertamina. If we approach the Singapore market individually, block by block, we would be dictated by their market, which already uses market clearing,” he said.
To strengthen Indonesia’s negotiating position, PLN is proposing a government-to-government (G2G) scheme with Singapore for electricity exports, with implementation assigned to one state-owned entity.
“If this is done under a G2G scheme and mandated to a single SOE to consolidate national strength, then we dictate the terms with Singapore, not the other way around,” Yusuf added.
The Indonesian government has already signaled its support for cross-border electricity cooperation, particularly for renewable energy-based electricity (EBT) exports. On June 13, 2025, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia and Singapore’s Minister for Energy, Science & Technology Tan See Leng.
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Under the MoU, Indonesia plans to export up to 3.4 gigawatts (GW) of renewable electricity to Singapore. To support this, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) estimates the need for 18.7 GW of solar panel production capacity and 35.7 GWh of battery storage.
However, Minister Bahlil has clarified that the government will prioritize private sector participation in electricity exports, with PLN potentially included but not guaranteed.
“The companies involved in electricity exports will be private. PLN may participate, or may not. We will see,” Bahlil said.
He added that PLN already has significant domestic commitments under its Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL), which includes the development of 69.5 GW of new power generation capacity by 2034 and the construction of 8,000 kilometers of transmission network. “So, we will assess their capability first,” he concluded.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak
