Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Opening of the 2023 World Hydropower Congress, in Bali Province, October 31, 2023

Distinguished Onward Indonesia Cabinet Ministers;

Distinguished Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as the President of International Hydropower Association;

Distinguished Premier of Sarawak Dato Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Johari Tun Abang Haji Openg;

Distinguished Minister of Energy Renewable and Hydrogen of Queensland;

Distinguished Minister of Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan, Governor of Bali,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am thankful for the organization of the 2023 World Hydropower Congress that is held in Indonesia. I hope the beauty of Bali’s nature can inspire the Congress to generate recommendations for a sustainable mother nature since the earth is ‘quite sick’ now. The UN (United Nations) has made a statement that the era of global warming has ended but the era of global boiling has arrived. If global temperature rises to more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, around 210 million people are predicted to experience water scarcity; 14 million populations will be exposed to heat wave, and 290 million houses will sink due to coastal flooding, and 600 million will suffer from malnutrition as the impact of crop failure. These are serious threats for us

Indonesia is fully committed to speed up energy transition through the development of new and renewable energy on a large scale since Indonesia is rich in green energy potential. Based on a calculation, Indonesia’s green energy potential reaches 3,600 GW from solar energy, wind power, geothermal, wave power, bioenergy, and hydropower.

Regarding hydropower, Indonesia has more than 4,400 potential rivers for hydropower; 128 of these are large rivers including Mamberamo River in Papua province that has potential hydropower of 24,000 MW. In addition, there is also Kayan River in North Kalimantan province that has potential hydropower of 13,000 MW which will become a source of energy in Kalimantan’s Green Industrial Park.

Once again, this abundant potential can be utilized for the future of the earth and next generations. Nevertheless, Indonesia is facing some challenges. One of which is related to hydropower sources that are located far from the centers of electricity demand. The Government of Indonesia thus has made a blueprint of the acceleration of transmission line to connect electricity from hydropower sources to economic center and industrial areas that will create more values.

Other challenges are funding and technology transfer.  Funding and technology transfer require quite huge investment and collaborations with all hydro ecosystem powers in the world. I hope that this World Hydropower Congress can become a collaborative forum that produces policy recommendations and increases investment to make use water energy for a sustainable green economy.

That concludes my remarks.

I thank you.

By saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, today I officially open the 2023 World Hydropower Congress.

(RAS/MMB)