The demand for cooling in Indonesia is forecasted by the IEA to reach 340 TWh by 2050 and require nearly 110 GW of new electricity generation capacity. Yet, more than 35 GW could be saved in new electricity capacity if the growing demand for cooling is met with best available technologies. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit in the Cooling Imperative Report (2019), Indonesia could experience more than 123 days a year of temperatures above 35°C. There is an urgent need for Indonesia to develop an efficient cooling strategy and implement policies to ensure that the rapid growth in demand for cooling is met with efficient and low carbon technologies.
In Indonesia, the tourism industry is one of the key contributors to the economy and particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry will need to identify and implement cost saving measures that can improve their business and support the recovery process. The hospitality sector, has the opportunity to implement significant energy savings from more efficient cooling systems. With limited funds to make capital investments, innovative financing models such as Cooling as a Service (CaaS) can help companies implement cost saving measures without the need for an initial outlay of capital.
This discussion focused on the potential for efficient cooling technologies to help support Indonesia's post COVID-19 economic recovery and highlighted how new innovative financing models can be used to support clean energy investments. It brought together key stakeholders within the clean energy investment and finance ecosystem to discuss the potential for Cooling as a Service (CaaS) to help bring efficient and low carbon cooling systems to market.
Key takeaways
- Demand for cooling will be a big driver of future electricity demand growth in Indonesia.
- Policy measures such as minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) and mandatory energy labelling can play a key role in improving the efficiency of new equipment.
- There is a role for new financing models such as the Cooling as a Service (CaaS) model to facilitate the deployment of more efficient and low-carbon cooling technologies.
- Economic stimulus programmes particularly those that integrate sustainability and green measures can be an important catalysis for the energy efficient market.
- A de-risking or guarantee mechanism would allow the energy efficient cooling projects to be bankable, as the hospitality sector has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.