What does the Indonesian government want to do with the coal sector?

Indonesian authorities are trying to restrict coal mining and exports in the country in order to secure more reserves for future use as fuel in coal-fired power plants in Indonesia. Local coal miners find it difficult to resist producing and exporting more coal as coal prices are now 50 percent higher than a year earlier.

Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources says that domestic coal consumption is relatively low and therefore Indonesian miners are highly dependent on coal exports. However, the central government would like to see coal sales in Indonesia fall to 400 million tonnes by 2019.

And given that in the government's ambitious program, about 57 percent of the new 35,000 MW power plants plan to run on coal, this would mean that domestic coal consumption should rise with a production target of 400 million tonnes. As part of the energy program, the government intends to gradually slow down coal supplies from Indonesia to a complete halt in 2046.

For 2017, the government has set a target for coal production at 413 million tonnes. However, Bambang Gatot Ariyono says actual coal production could rise to 470 million tonnes this year as local miners enthusiastically produce coal amid improved coal prices, while new coal mining companies have also emerged. started or will start production in 2017.