Bilateral relations RI, China to cooperate in developing renewable energy

The Jakarta Post, Rangga D. Fadillah, Jakarta | Wed, 04/27/2011

Indonesian and Chinese business owners have affirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation in developing Indonesia’s renewable energy sector in a bid to help the country reduce dependence on fossil fuels and boost economic growth.

The secretary general for China’s National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation, Ambassador Wu Zhenlong, said that as developing nations, Indonesia and China had similar challenges in accelerating their economic growth, particularly in the issue of energy security.

“We’ve the same challenges related to energy issues so it [the cooperation] is to exchange ideas and experiences for the benefit of both of us,” he told The Jakarta Post in an exclusive interview on the sideline of Indonesia-China business meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday.

China had been committed to working with not only the Indonesian government but also private companies to increase energy supply from renewable resources such as wind, water and solar power, he added.

“The prospect of renewable energy businesses in Indonesia is very bright, considering the country is rich with resources. The two countries can do a lot of things together,” he said.

Ambassador Wu led an entourage comprising Chinese businessmen to meet with Indonesia’s stakeholders in several business sectors, including tourism and renewable energy. The visit aimed to seek new areas of cooperation, he said in his opening remarks at the meeting.

“This meeting will be a great venture to expand the two countries’ bilateral relations,” he said.

Ambassador Wu claimed that China had considerable competence in the renewable energy sector through its long journey in developing wind, hydro and solar power plants in the country.

“Between 1950s and the 1970s, we focused on hydro-power projects to provide electricity for our people. 

In 1980, we started to develop solar, wind and other renewable energy,” he reported.

Currently, he revealed, China’s wind power plants had a total capacity of 4,000 megawatts. The country was also well-known as the number-one producer of solar panels in the world, he added.

In 2020, China plans to build more wind power plants to reach a total capacity of between 15,000 and 20,000 megawatts. The country is also eager to improve its solar and hydro power plants’ capacity to over 5,000 megawatts and 30,000 megawatts respectively that year.

Ambassador Wu claimed that China currently utilized domestic resources in boosting its renewable energy utilization. All technologies used in renewable energy projects were developed by local firms, he added.

The chairman for Indonesia Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation, Jusuf Wanandi, welcomed the commitment of Chinese business delegates expressed by Ambassador Wu.

“I hope this meeting isn’t the last. We’re looking forward to haveing other forthcoming meetings to tighten the Indonesia-China bilateral cooperation,” he said in his opening remarks.   

Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) is a tripartite network of 26 member committees comprised of senior individuals from business and industry, government, academic and other intellectual circles dedicated to the promotion of regional cooperation and dialog.

PECC is a non-governmental official observer at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.