Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — Indonesia is set to tap into ocean wave energy as part of its long-term energy transition strategy, according to the state electricity company’s newly released 2025–2034 Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL).
Speaking at the Human Capital Summit 2025 in Jakarta on Wednesday, Eniya Listiani Dewi, Director General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), said the plan opens the door to developing ocean current energy, whether from the surface, mid-depth, or seabed.
The plan marks the country’s first official inclusion of marine energy potential in its national electricity roadmap. “This is the first time ocean energy appears in the RUPTL. We’re opening up the potential across different ocean layers,” she said.
Indonesia’s theoretical potential for ocean energy is estimated at 63 gigawatts (GW), but none of it has been utilized as of 2025. Under the RUPTL, the government has set an initial target to harness 0.04 GW, or 40 megawatts (MW), from ocean wave energy.
Development is expected to be concentrated in the eastern provinces of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), where ocean currents are strongest.
Some of the feasibility studies are already underway in collaboration with the University of Maryland in the United States. The project is slated to be operational by 2028, delivering 20 MW each to the NTB and NTT regions.
Indonesia officially released the 2025–2034 Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL) by state utility PLN at the end of May. The broader RUPTL targets an overall 69.5 GW increase in power generation capacity by 2034.
Of that, 76% will come from renewable sources and energy storage systems, such as batteries and pumped hydro.
Renewable energy sources alone are expected to contribute 42.6 GW, including solar, hydro, wind, geothermal, bioenergy, and for the first time, nuclear energy. Storage systems will provide an additional 10.3 GW.
The remaining 24% of new generation will still come from fossil fuels like coal and gas, but officials say the shift toward renewables marks a “concrete commitment” to delivering reliable, clean, and sustainable electricity across the archipelago.
(Raidi/Agung)
