A proper mix of nuclear power and renewables to fulfill ecological requirements of acceptable CO2 emission 2030 in Indonesia

Indonesia energy consumption is increasing due to the rapid population growth, economic development and electrification. Indonesia is one of the largest CO2 emitters, because in 2014, Indonesia's non-renewable energy accounted for 88% of total electricity generation. Its composition does not support government's ambition to slash CO2 emissions by 29% by 2030 if Indonesia continues to build new fossil-base power generation in the future. Furthermore, to reduce CO2 by 29% Indonesia needs to create at least 16 GW new “carbon-free” power plants by 2030. Based on geographical location/position of Indonesia, current structure of the country energy system lacks base load and energy resources, Indonesia should require a special energy mix design to achieve that target. This paper examines sustainability factors, barriers and technology characteristics of nuclear power and renewables. The analysis indicated clearly that nuclear power and renewables each have important role to be a part of the energy mix design in Indonesia to reduce CO2 emissions. The paper demonstrates that nuclear power is an effective and logical option to be the baseload supply of electricity and renewables for local electricity supply in geographically isolated regions without access to large electric grids, for examples some rural area in Sumatera, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi and Papua.