State-owned PLN Indonesia Power (PLN IP) and Saudi-listed Acwa Power will receive $60mn in funding from the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) to develop a solar project in Indonesia, indicating there is still interest in financing the country's energy transition.
The 92MW peak (MWp) Saguling floating solar project in west Java will receive the funds from German development finance institution DEG, French development finance institution Proparco and Standard Chartered bank, announced the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) on 29 April. PLN IP and Acwa Power signed a power purchase agreement in August 2024 to jointly develop the solar project.
The $60mn for the project is in addition to $1.2bn which Indonesia has already secured under the JETP. Indonesia joined the JETP in 2022 and is supposed to receive $20bn through the scheme from international partners including GFANZ, to help its coal phase-out. US president Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the JETP raised concerns earlier in 2025 on whether Indonesia could stick to its energy transition policies.
But the US' withdrawal may not necessarily have a major impact on JETP funding. The latest investment "points to appetite from both public and private sectors to finance the country's green energy transition," said GFANZ. France has already mobilised over €450mn ($511mn) for Indonesia's energy transition through the JETP, according to the ambassador of France to Indonesia, Fabien Penone.
PLN IP, a sub-holding of state-owned electricity company PLN Persero, is the largest power generation company in southeast Asia. Indonesia's electricity demand is expected to grow by about 3.8pc/yr to 1,813TWh/yr by 2060, but its power sector is still heavily reliant on coal, which made up 61.8pc of the electricity mix in 2023. In comparison, renewables made up 19pc, out of which solar and wind power constituted a mere 0.2pc.
Indonesia has large solar potential of up to 3,295GW, said PLN IP's president director Edwin Nugraha Putra. The Saguling solar project, which is expected to reduce carbon emissions in Indonesia's power system by at least 63,100 t/yr, will also increase the share of solar in Indonesia's electricity production by around 13pc, according to GFANZ.
The share of renewables in Indonesia's power mix is expected to rise to around 21pc by 2030 and 41pc by 2040, according to think-tank Ember.