Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has announced that his government plans to retire all coal and other fossil fuel-power plants while drastically boosting the country’s renewable energy capacity in the next 15 years.



“Indonesia is rich in geothermal resources, and we plan to phase out coal-fired and all fossil-fueled power plants within the next 15 years. Our plan includes building over 75 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity during this time,” Subianto said at the summit of leaders of the Group of 20 major economies in Brazil on Tuesday.

Experts and environmental activists¹ welcomed the announcements but hedged their expectations.



Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers and consumers of heavily polluting coal and most of its energy comes from fossil fuels. Over 250 coal-fired power plants are currently powering the country and more are being built, including at new industrial parks where globally-important materials like nickel, cobalt and aluminum² are being processed.