Indonesia and Australia to research delivering power to remote communities and to grow cities
View the release in Bahasa Indonesia here.
Announcing a portfolio of research projects:
- To bring sustainable energy to remote communities.
- To increase the reliability of Indonesia’s urban power.
- To guide Indonesia as it boosts its electricity generating capacity by 70 per cent.
- To help Australia decarbonise/move away from coal.
- Trials in Borneo and Kai Besar (off West Papua).
Researchers available for interview in Bahasa Indonesia and English. More images below.
Today the Indonesian Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, Sudirman Said, will open the Indonesian Clean Energy Centre of Excellence in Bali, with Australia to be an important partner in the Centre’s new activities.
Local and national projects assessing clean energy options are underway by Indonesian and Australian scientists. Credit: Max Richter
In support of the opening the Australia Indonesia Centre announced the signing of an MoU and the commencement of a suite of research projects to support sustainable energy development in both countries.
The projects include:
- Local solutions by assessing, modelling, and trialling micro-grids.
- National solutions by modelling national grids, assessing future fuel options, and investigating the policy and regulatory frameworks needed.
Indonesia needs energy to support the economic development expectations of its people. It currently has a generating capacity of about 50 GW and plans to reach 85 GW by 2019. That’s a 70 per cent increase. By contrast Australia’s energy consumption has on average declined over the last seven years and the country faces the challenge of ‘decarbonising’ its 65 GW capacity, half of which comes from legacy coal-fired power stations.
Providing reliable electricity is also key to unlocking the potential of remote communities in both nations: from Indonesian islands and Australian outback communities, to remote mine sites. It’s a big challenge as over 65 million Indonesians aren’t on the grid.
“Our memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian Department of Energy and Mineral Resources will enable us to step up our research into these challenges, says Paul Ramadge, Director of the Australia-Indonesia Centre.
More about the energy cluster research portfolio at: http://australiaindonesiacentre.org/research/research-projects
Media release about the Trials in Borneo and Kai Besar at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/media-releases/power2
Media contacts:
- Kevin Evans (Australia Indonesia Centre, in Indonesia); kevin.evans@monash.edu; +62 811 991 6434
- Andrew Tijs (Australia Indonesia Centre, in Australia); andrew.tijs@monash.edu; +61 405 278 298
- Lydia Hales (Science in Public, in Australia); lydia@scienceinpublic.com.au; +61 457 854 515
For interviews:
- Professor Pujo Semedi (Indonesia); pujosemedi@ugm.ac.id; +620274-513096, ext. 123
- Paul Ramadge (Director of the Australia Indonesia Centre, in Australia); +61 (3) 9905 0302
Providing reliable electricity is key to unlocking the potential of remote communities in both nations. Credit: Max Richter
Trials are underway in Borneo and Kai Besar (off West Papua). Credit: Max Richter