Indonesia To Invest USD 2.6B For Hydropower Industrial Project

President Joko Widodo of Indonesia launched the construction of a US$2.6 billion hydropower plant that will be linked to a planned industrial park in North Kalimantan on Wednesday (Mar 1).

The Mentarang Induk power plant is being built by PT Kayan Hydropower Nusantara, a collaboration between Indonesia's PT Kayan Patria Pratama Group and Malaysia's Sarawak Energy Bhd.

The 1.375 gigatonne plant will be linked to an industrial area that will house electric vehicle and battery plants, as well as aluminium and petrochemical facilities, according to the president.

He stated that the hydropower project will be completed in seven years to power the planned park.

"Our hope is that Indonesia's economic transformation would really take place toward a green economy," Jokowi, as the president is known, said in a ground-breaking ceremony that was streamed online.

Indonesia is a major thermal coal producer and relies on it as its main source of power but has pledged to move away from the dirty fuel and reach net-zero emissions before 2060.

The country, which is one of the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, aims to increase the proportion of renewables in its energy mix to 23 per cent by 2025, up from around 12 per cent currently. While less emissions-intensive than coal, environmentalists agree that dams can also cause issues like disruption of water flow, sediment flow and ecosystems.