Greenpeace Slams PLN for Restricting Rooftop Solar Panel's Capacity

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Energy Democracy Coalition consisting of several NGOs, namely Greenpeace, Enter Nusantara, and 350.org Indonesia staged a confrontational creative action to mark National Electricity Day on Thursday, Oct. 26. During the rally, the coalition urged state-owned electricity firm PLN not to limit the capacity of rooftop solar panels for the community.

The limit on the capacity of the rooftop solar installation was noted in the internal memo of the country’s only electricity provider, which was then incorporated by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry to be included in the revision of the Ministerial Regulation No. 26/2021 on rooftop solar system.

Tempo observed that the coalition was initially not allowed to conduct such an act and requested a discussion, which led to a debate between the activists and PLN officials. After some time, PLN’s technical implementation unit (K3L) accepted their request.

“Since [we are welcomed by] the authority who does not handle rooftop solar power plants, we did not get enough direct answers,” Greenpeace’s campaigner of climate and energy, Hadi Priyanto, told Tempo in the PLN Building, Thursday, Oct. 26.  

Hadi said the coalition is pushing for a stronger commitment from PLN to implement the energy transition. “We still have homework to continue to monitor PLN's performance and check their commitment regarding restrictions on rooftop solar,” he said, adding that if there is no change, the coalition will then hold more rallies.

NINDA DWI RAMADHANI