Jakarta. The UK launched Tuesday the second phase of a program worth millions of American dollars that would mainly focus on making Indonesia’s government-owned buildings use energy as is needed without wasting any.

This energy efficiency campaign falls under the government-funded technical assistance program UK PACT, short for Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions. As the name suggests, the UK PACT sees London assisting climate-related projects around the world, including Indonesia. The UK PACT has been in place in Indonesia for some time, and has just wrapped up its first phase. 

The second round of this program is planned to be worth around £4.4 million or $5.9 million, although these figures remain subject to change, according to Eniya Listiani Dewi, a senior official at the Energy Ministry.

Under this pact, the UK will share its expertise on how the country can improve the energy efficiency of government buildings. Indonesia mandates both national and sub-national governments to manage the energy use of their buildings. The law also calls for specialized personnel to carry out regular energy audits on the said structures.

“Such policies require [energy] auditors, and that would lead to the creation of green jobs. … We do know how President Prabowo Subianto is pursuing an 8 percent annual economic growth, but this requires us to make sure that our energy use can create multiplier effects,” Eniya told reporters in Jakarta, shortly after the second phase’s signing ceremony. 

As a case in point, the power that public buildings usually use for their lighting could be saved and shifted for industrial purposes, thus possibly spurring greater growth, she said.

According to Eniya’s estimates, the government can save approximately Rp 1.8 trillion ($110 million) until 2030 if it makes as many as 4,000 government buildings energy-efficient over the coming years. Energy efficiency measures are also expected to help Indonesia cut 37 percent of its emissions. She added: “This is our commitment to the international community, that we [Indonesia] are tripling our renewable energy and doubling the energy efficiency.”

Amanda McLoughlin, the UK’s international development director for Indonesia, said that there were other aspects to energy transition besides the often discussed shift from coal. 

“A lot of people focus on coal phase-out, or renewable [energy] scale-up, all of which are so important. But if you take energy efficiency measures, you can reduce emissions by 37 percent. ... We wish to focus more on the sub-national levels in places such as Magelang for the second phase,” McLoughlin said.

The new phase will also help Indonesian small or medium-scale enterprises to slash the energy required to produce goods and services. Under the UK PACT, the British government will assist the Southeast Asian country build a pipeline of projects that are ready for investment and develop various energy efficiency schemes.

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