Thermal Power Plants are being Stranded Assets Without Alternative Fuels

Global warming and climate change are critical issues. According to the IEA, the electricity sector has contributed around 38% of the total CO2 emission globally, while in Indonesia is accounting for the second largest carbon emissions released to the atmosphere due to its dependency on fossil fuels. Decarbonization in the power sector is crucial to reduce emissions to achieve Net Zero Emissions. The current electricity system is locked into thermal-based power plants which mostly come from coal-fired power plants. Under these circumstances, efforts to abate emissions are urgently needed to replace these thermal power generation with renewable power plants (such as solar and wind) or pair them with new technologies such as direct carbon capture, carbon capture and storage (CCS) or Carbon, capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS). A quick replacement of these thermal power plants will be costly as the thermal fleets still have many years of useful life and without alternative fuel, those power plants are being stranded assets.