An Analysis of National Position, Opportunity, and Challenge of Indonesia’s Nuclear Program to Support Net-Zero Emissions by 2060

Abstract

Coal contributed 303 million tons of CO2 (49% of total emissions) in Indonesia in 2021. The Indonesian government plans to retire all coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060. Nuclear power plants (NPPs) have low CO2 emissions. This research aims to analyze the status of the nuclear program and examine the opportunities and challenges of NPPs in supporting net-zero emissions. The method used is a literature study of national positions and a simulation of the use of NPPs with the low emissions analysis platform (LEAP) up to 2060. The Business as Usual (BaU) scenario still relies on CFPPs. The retired CFPP scenario consists of NPP utilization of 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%. It was found that the national position of Indonesia is in phase 1 (considering), because legally there is no policy on the use of NPPs in laws, the National Development Plan, or energy policies. A Nuclear Energy Program Implementation Organization (NEPIO) has not yet been established. The simulation results conclude that with limited renewable energy potential, NPPs have the opportunity to fulfill electricity production needs and reduce CO2 emissions significantly. The challenge of using NPPs is the increasing production and investment costs of electricity that come along with the increase in the use of NPPs.