Clean Energy in South East Asia Heats Up

As the world increasingly sees solar for its clean energy future, how well is South East Asia taking advantage of the tropical sun? With rapidly improving technology and declining prices, it is only a matter of time before it catches up, says Andrew Affleck of Armstrong Asset Management’s Clean Energy Fund for the region. Localised solar systems are slowly but surely gaining traction, with Indonesia looking to allow homes to sell energy to the grid. Slowly, Thailand and Philippines are turning to the sun to help meet their energy needs, while Singapore has targeted public housing to help it gain much more of its electricity from solar. Read More

Report from Armstrong Asset Management in its EnergEyes newsletter May 2015:

In SE Asia, localised solar systems are slowly but surely gaining traction. Earlier this month, Indonesia announced that is looking into amending regulations to allow homes to sell energy to the grid, enabling the country to meet its surging energy requirements. While the full suite of solar and battery systems are still a relatively expensive pairing for businesses and homes in SE Asia, it is encouraging to see governments pre-empting these changes and adjusting regulations to accommodate the future. With rapidly improving technology and declining prices, it is only a matter of time before SE Asia catches up.

Indonesian government prepares legal framework for installation and sale of electricity from household rooftop solar

The Indonesian government is preparing the legal framework that will encourage Indonesians to install solar cells on the roofs of their homes to generate electricity. Under the planned regulation, being drafted with the help of the Asian Development Bank, individuals could connect their solar cells to the electricity grid run by PLN and sell the company power. The government says it aims to have 1,000 megawatt/hour of electricity generated from solar cells by 2025 and on a broader scale, aims to increase power generation by 35 gigawatts of electricity within the next five years to meet rising demand.

Source: www.armstrongam.com/energeyes_newsletter.php

Wall Street Journal, Jakarta, Indonesia (7 May 2015):

In not too distant future, Indonesian households may be able to sell electricity to the nation’s state-run utility to help it cope with supply shortages.

The deal will involve solar power, something the national energy monopoly, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), has started to weigh as a source of alternative power in tropical Indonesia. ‎Now, the government is preparing the legal framework that will encourage Indonesians to install solar cells on the roofs of their homes to generate electricity, said Rida Mulyana, Director General of Renewable Energy at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. Under the planned regulation, being drafted with the help of the Asian Development Bank, individuals could connect their solar cells to the electricity grid run by PLN and sell the company power.

“This has been done in India,” Ms. Mulyana said Thursday. “Households can become independent power producers by selling the excess electricity generated from their solar cells, to PLN.”

She said that households would need to invest around four million rupiah ‎($306) to generate 450 watts of electricity.

If they generate more than they can use during their day-time consumption, they can sell the excess to PLN. After sunset, they can buy electricity back from the utility, which will offset the cost with the electricity they contribute to PLN’s grid during the day time, Ms. Mulyana said.

‎Located mostly in the equatorial zone, Indonesia has roughly an equal number of light and dark hours year round. Yet, the use of solar cells to generate electricity on a wide scale is still non-existent, except to power water heaters.

The government says it aims to have 1,000 megawatt/hour of electricity generated from solar cells by 2025. In 2012 the state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina and its sister company LEN Industri constructed a plant outside West Java’s capital of Bandung to produce solar cells‎.

On a broader scale, the government is aiming to increase power generation by 35 gigawatts of electricity within the next five years to meet rising demand. Blackouts are still common in many parts of Indonesia, and many people in remote areas still don’t have access to electricity. Due to frequent power outages, many companies and office buildings have their own spare generators.

Source: www.blogs.wsj.com/indonesiarealtime/2015/05/07/peoples-power-could-be-coming-to-indonesia/