Indonesia Won’t Build Thermal Power Plants After 2023

Indonesia will not build any coal-fired power plants after 2023, vowing to begin the transition to renewable energy sources. But critics say it doesn’t go far enough as the country is committed to building as many as 117 thermal power plants as per a 2015 plan. The idea is to add 35,000 megawatts to the grid. These plants will run for decades thereafter adding to the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Critics say Indonesia also needs to relook its definition of what are renewable sources of energy. It includes, apart from the conventional solar and nuclear, palm oil-based biofuel and gasified coal.