Perceptions of Indonesian Energy Security

Andhika Rahman

Energy is one of the most important components in our daily life. Energy is used in all
sectors, from industry to household needs. The energy used is also diverse, ranging
from electrical energy, wind energy, water energy, etc. Due to the enormous energy
needs in all segments of the sector, it needs a supply of energy that can offset the
public energy demand, called energy security.

Energy security is a condition of ensuring the availability of energy, public access to

energy at an affordable price in the long term while still paying attention to living
environment preservation (Agustiawan, 2014). In addition, there are also several energy
security indicators that are availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability that
has not been fully fulfilled. First one is the availability of energy sources in physical
terms. In terms of availability in Indonesia is still far from target, this is due to the decline
in petroleum production and increased imports of petroleum. Second one is how easy to
access the energy. In terms of accessibility in Indonesia, the national electrification ratio
has reached 93% (ESDM, 2017), meaning that 93% of families in Indonesia are getting
electricity, while another 7% of families still rely on candles for the night. Third one is the
affordability of energy supply prices. In terms of affordability in Indonesia is also still
problematic, energy prices both gas and electricity continue to rise that burden the
people, in fact the government has tried to provide subsidy assistance, but this has not
been able to suppress the price of energy to be sold to the people. Fourth one is the
energy quality that can be accepted by people. In terms of acceptability in Indonesia is
close to the target. Communities have been able to receive and utilize electrical energy
and gas for everyday life, of course the government must continue to improve the
quality of the energy for the people.

Based on data released by the World Energy Council, Indonesia's energy security
position has declined in recent years. In 2017 Indonesia occupies the 75th position of
129 countries, whereas in 2010 Indonesia was ranked 29th. The cause is the imbalance
of the rate of energy availability with the need.
Currently, Indonesia's energy resources still rely on fossil energy. Therefore, new
energy sources are needed to compensate for the national energy needs. The potential
of renewable energy in Indonesia is quite large, we have the potential of solar energy,
wind energy and geothermal energy. There are already power plants that utilize
renewable energy, such as solar power plant in Kupang and wind power plant in Sidrap,
but the numbers are still not enough. In the future we should be able to increase the
number of power plants from renewable energy so that renewable energy can become
a solution to the problem of our energy security.