Renewable Energy Special Allocated Funding For 71 Regencies

This year, the government would provide special allocated funding for 71 regencies all across Indonesia. In addition to the implementation of renewable energy development for electricity, this year’s program would also facilitate the use of biogas.
"We expect that the recipient regencies can submit program plans to make use of the new and renewable energy special allocated funding, with the participation and consultation with various stakeholders. We hope that the program would provide energy supplies to those villages without no electricity from PLN (the state utility company),” explained Djadjang Sukarna, an Expert Staff for the Minister of Economic and Finance, at the socialization event in Manado, North Sulawesi, last Thursday (4/4).

Representatives from recipient regencies attended the socialization event. Not only regencies in North Sulawesi, but also the surrounding provinces such as South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Maluku and North Maluku. It was the second socialization event, as the first one was held in Bali for the surrounding areas.
"The goal of this socialization event is to provide information regarding the policy of special allocated funding for the local government, so they can have the proper reference in planning, executing, monitoring, and evaluating the program,” Djadjang Sukarna further elaborated.
The special allocated funding is accounted in the state budget, allocated for certain regents with a purpose to help developing new and renewable energy. Specifically, the special allocated funding is allocated for energy diversification, to exploit local renewable energy resources and upgrading the access to modern energy for rural societies.
The Ministerial Decree No. 3/2013 has elucidated that the funding is to be used to fund renewable energy installation facilities, i.e. building new micro-hydro power plants; existing micro-hydro power plants maintenance; existing micro-hydro power plants expansion or power-upgrading; building centralized and/or distributed solar power plants; and building household scale biogas facilities.

Two of the most important points stressed by the government were the effort to diversify energy supplies by prioritizing new and renewable energy, and also to urge the acceleration of local regencies development with low electrification rate