World Small Hydropower

Development Report 2013

www.smallhydroworld.org
INDONESIA

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Published in 2013 by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and International Center
on Small Hydro Power (ICSHP).
2013 UNIDO and ICSHP
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Recommended citation:
Liu, H., Masera, D. and Esser, L., eds. (2013). World Small Hydropower Development Report 2013. United Nations Industrial
Development Organization; International Center on Small Hydro Power. Available from www.smallhydroworld.org.

interchangeably. Current installed small hydropower

capacity is about 100 MW, however, the potential is
much higher (figure 1).

3 Asia
3.4 South-Eastern Asia

SHP installed
capacity

3.4.2 Indonesia
Lara Esser, International Center on Small Hydro Power

99.4 MW

SHP potential

Key facts
Population
Area
Climate

Topography
Rain pattern

248,645,008
2
1,904,569 km
Tropical, hot and humid, but more
moderate in the highlands. There are
two discernible seasons, both of which
are hot. The coastal regions, however,
are often cool, and in the mountains
the air is chilly.
Mostly coastal lowlands, but the larger
islands have interior mountains.
Dry season: June to October. Rainy
season: November to March.

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Figure 2 Small hydropower capacities in Indonesia

Germany has provided long-term support to the
development of mini hydropower in Indonesia. A
cooperative called Mini Hydro Power Project (MHPP)
was carried out by the Directorate General of
Electricity and Energy Utilization, Ministry of Energy
and Mineral Resources and the German Technical
Cooperation (GTZ). The first phase of the MHPP
project (1991-1996) had focused on the introduction
of technology to local institutions and individuals thar
were already active in micro hydropower project
development. In the second phase (1999-2002), the
scope of intervention was broadened to include policy
dialogue, scaling-up of technology packages, and
improving operation and management. The project
has developed a variety of mini hydropower
technology packages transferring knowledge and
expertise to local manufacturers in Java and Sumatra.
Over the past decade, such packages have been
applied in more than 100 installations. These schemes
presently supply over 20,000 families with clean and
5
sustainable energy.

Electricity sector overview

The total installed capacity of Indonesia was 35,313
2
MW in 2011. Indonesia does not import any
electricity. Thermal sources are dominant contribution
to electricity generation (figure 1). In 2010, most of
the electricity (83 per cent) was produced by the
state-utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negaras (PLN), 6.4
GW off-grid, half of which from renewable sources
3
and half from diesel.
Hydro/Geothermal

1267 MW

5.2%

Gas

As part of the global Energizing Development

Program, MHPP has, since 2006, been scaled-up to
further enhance sustainable access to energy in rural
Indonesia. Between 2006 and 2009, over 90 additional
schemes went into operation. By 2009, these schemes
supplied 68,000 individuals, 427 social infrastructures,
and 2,020 small businesses with clean energy. In 2010,
a monitoring survey visited 20 mini hydropower sites
built in Sumatra and Sulawesi under MHPP. The
survey mission found 19 out of the 20 visited mini
hydropower sites were still operational and in overall
good condition. Only one was temporarily out of
operation due to land conflicts. On average about
240W is available for each of the 1,638 households
supported by the 19 MHPP investigated. Additionally,
88 per cent of the social infrastructure buildings in the
communities are supplied by the installation, meaning
that small businesses can also benefit. All sites are
looked after by trained operators who receive a
regular salary. All communities individually defined a
tariff system, where the rules for customer and social
infrastructure tariffs were set; five communities even
have special tariffs for productive use. Each has an
established technical and financial management
system. All villages use the collected tariff for future

24.0%

Oil

25.9%

Coal

44.9%
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Figure 1 Electricity generation in Indonesia

3
Source: Differ Group
Note: Data from 2010.
In Indonesia, only 67.2 per cent of households have
2
access to electricity. Indonesia has a rural
electrification programme included in its Renewable
Energy
Development
Program,
where
the
Government has taken measures to replace diesel4
based power plants with renewable energy ones.
Access to electricity, particularly in rural areas is still a
challenge where increased use of hydropower
2
potential is considered an appropriate solution. The
Government targets an electrification rate of 90 per
4
cent by 2020.
Small hydropower sector overview and potential
In Indonesia there is no agreed general consensus on
the small hydropower definition, with the terms small,
mini,
micro
and
pico
hydropower
used
1

maintenance and repair of the systems hence they do

6
not require any further external support.

is mostly concentrated on Java. Imported small

hydropower equipment is expensive and spare
parts are often difficult to obtain. There are no
mechanisms in place (i.e. product liability, quality
assurance, technical control institution) that
warrant the quality of small hydropower
equipment.
Plant operation and maintenance is often
haphazard, with little preventative action.
Financing mechanisms are either unavailable or
difficult to locate.
Barriers related to awareness and dissemination of
information: many institutions and decision
makers are not aware of the possibilities for small
hydropower
development.
As
a
result,
conventional energy options are preferred. Basic
data (maps, surveys, hydrology, and geology)
needed for project evaluation is often missing or
difficult to obtain, especially for more remote
regions. A frequently updated and easily accessible
inventory with potential small-scale hydropower
sites was inexistent in 2012. Potential project
developers therefore often have to take a lengthy
way through many institutions to identify
investment opportunities. At the same time,
attractive sites may remain undeveloped, because
they are unknown.

The ASEAN Hydropower Competence Centre (HYCOM)

in Bandung facilitates ASEAN-wide knowledge
exchanges on mini and micro hydropower (1 kW to 1
MW). The objective of HYCOM is to provide an
ASEAN-wide competence centre, offering training as
well as facilitating research and development to the
small hydropower sector. It has implementing
partners (i.e. PT Entec Indonesia and Technical
Education Development Centre, Bandung) and
supporting partners i.e. the Swiss Renewable Energy
and Energy Efficiency Promotion in International
Cooperation, the Renewable Energy Support Program
for ASEAN, the ASEAN Centre for Energy and Deutsche
Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit
7
(GIZ). It is involved in training activities on standards,
laboratory testing of micro hydropower equipment
with regard to reliability, safety and efficiency,
support for the development of mini hydropower sites
and networking and exchange of micro hydropower
7
related information.
Renewable energy policy
The renewable energy target of the country is 25 per
cent. The Government pays attention to its
development and has passed laws and regulations to
prioritize and promote it. These include the National
Energy Policy 30/2007, the Electricity Law 30/2009
and the ministerial decrees on Distributed Power
Generation and Renewable Energy and Energy
5
Conservation.

References
1. Central Intelligence Agency (2012). The World
Factbook. Available from
www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/.
2. Suryo Busono, Indonesia Agency for the Assessment
and Application of Technology (2012). Survey by
International Center on Small Hydro Power answered
in March.
3. Differ Group (2012). The Indonesian electricity
system: A brief overview. 6 February 2012. Available
from
www.differgroup.com/Portals/53/images/Indonesia_
overall_FINAL.pdf.
4. Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische
Zusammenarbeit (2009). Energy-policy Framework
Conditions for Electricity Markets and Renewable GTZ
www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/gtz2009-en-ternaindonesia.pdf. Accessed December 2012.
5. Muksin and Syufrizal (2007). The potential of
energy and hydropower development in Indonesia.
Training Workshop on Small Hydropower
Technologies. Hangzhou. 2 November to 11
December.
6. Gesellschaft fuer International Zusammenarbeit
(2011). Energy Newsletter, Issue no. 17, March.
Available from www.endev-indonesia.or.id.
7. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (n.d.). Hydro
Competence Centre. Available from www.hycom.info.

Legislation on small hydropower

The electricity generated using renewable energy,
especially small hydropower, is to be bought by the
2
state-electricity company at an agreed fix price.
Barriers to small hydropower development
Structural and policy-related barriers: lack of
standardization of procedures and technical codes,
non-standardized procedures to obtain power
purchase agreements, lack of technical support to
interconnect small hydropower to the grid. No
consistent and transparent governmental policy
supporting renewable energy development in
place. Absence of subsidies or any other financial
incentives
supporting
renewable
energy
development.
Barriers related to technical and institutional
capacities: insufficient stakeholder involvement
during
project
selection,
planning,
and
implementation. Lack or poor quality of preinvestment financial evaluations. Technical
problems resulting from poor design and
construction quality (civil, mechanical, and
electrical) are also common. Local equipment
design and manufacturing capability is limited, and
2

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