Specific Working Visit of Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives to PT SEI: Focus on Upstreaming of the PLTS Industry and Electricity Connections in 3T Regions

Bandung, (24/06/22) – PT Surya Energi Indotama (PT SEI) is one of the companies targeted by Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives in conducting a series of Working Visits of Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives in charge of energy and industry. This Specific Working Visit targets discussions on the development of new renewable energy infrastructure, especially solar panels in Indonesia.

The discussion was attended by Members of Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives led by H. Eddy Soeparno S.H., M.H. as Deputy Chairperson of Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Bambang Iswanto as President Director of PT SEI, Wiluyo Kusdwiharto as Director of Mega Projects and EBT of PT PLN, Andriah Feby Misna, S.T., M.T as Director. of Various EBT ESDM, M. Arifin as Secretary of the Directorate General of ILMATE, Liliek Widodo as Director. of Metal Industry of the Ministry of Industry, and Linus Andor Mulana Sijabat as Director of Business Strategy & Portfolio of PT Len Industri (Persero).

One of the objectives of this Specific Working Visit is to get an overview of the problems faced and the support expected by PT Len and PT SEI in developing solar panel infrastructure in Indonesia, as well as to find out the effectiveness of the government's role in overcoming various problems faced by communities in the regions.

This objective is motivated by the facts that currently there are very large opportunities for domestic industries to develop businesses in the PLTS sector. However, production capacity in Indonesia is still long and expensive compared to other countries. Added to this is the lack of integration of the solar panel industry components from upstream to downstream.

As a pioneer of solar panel companies in Indonesia that has been operating for 14 years, PT SEI always strives to develop the solar panel industry so that it is quickly accepted by the community. On this visit, in addition to discussing upstreaming, Bambang Iswanto as President Director of PT SEI also emphasized that PLTS must be able to be present as a solution in the 3T (Outermost, Disadvantaged, Frontier) areas.

"The 3T areas are our focus where the people there also have the right to get access to electricity, and PLTS can be a solution," said Bambang Iswanto.

Deputy Chairman of Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Eddy Soeparno, also said that there are still many 3T areas that have not been fully connected to electricity. In fact, with the abundant sunshine in Indonesia, it can be utilized to develop solar panels in these areas.

"The areas that are prioritized in this development are areas that have not yet been comprehensively connected to electricity, especially in the 3T areas. And if the government can program this, perhaps the industrial sector can survive and on the other hand, the areas that still have 3T can be helped," explained the politician from the National Mandate Party (PAN).

PT SEI has long been actively building PLTS systems in 3T areas. One of them is by building solar-powered BTS Signal Towers in remote areas. With government support, it is hoped that this PLTS will be the leading solution for all 3T areas in Indonesia. So it is complete, starting from the focus of upstream to downstream implementation that is beneficial to the community.

PLTS is one of the government's priority programs to achieve the target of developing EBT by 23% in 2025. The potential for solar energy in Indonesia is also very high and is starting to have competitive prices. Therefore, synergy is needed between the Government as a regulator, PLN as an operator, the industry as a producer, and the community as consumers so that they are able to accelerate the utilization of solar energy potential as soon as possible.