Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has announced plans to develop 100 GW of solar power plants, aiming to bring clean electricity to rural and remote areas. The program will allocate 20 GW for centralized projects, while 80 GW of solar and 320 GWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS) will be deployed across 80,000 villages under the Merah Putih Village Cooperative.
The Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) welcomed the initiative but flagged challenges in site selection, workforce availability, and multi-stakeholder coordination. It recommends modular, plug-and-play plant designs, accelerated training for certified solar and BESS technicians, and creation of a dedicated National Strategic Program task force.
IESR stressed the importance of community participation to ensure economic benefits, protect land rights, and maintain transparency. If implemented effectively, the project could become Southeast Asia’s largest rural electrification and distributed renewable energy program.
According to the ministry, Indonesia’s total installed generation capacity rose by 4.4 GW year-on-year in H1 2025, with 876.5 MW coming from new and renewable sources.