PRESS RELEASE
No. 133/RELEASE/PLNIP/2026
Preparing for the Renewable Energy Era, PLN Indonesia Power Develops Flexible Power Generation to Maintain Grid Reliability
Tangerang, September 22, 2026 – PLN Indonesia Power (PLN IP) is developing a power generation flexibility strategy to maintain electricity system reliability as the use of renewable energy continues to grow.
The strategy was presented by President Director of PLN Indonesia Power, Bernadus Sudarmanta, during the “Fast Ramps & Firm Capacity: Delivering Flexibility in a Renewables World” session at Enlit Asia x Electricity Connect 2026, held at ICE BSD City, Tangerang, on Tuesday, September 22.
Bernadus explained that the growing use of variable renewable energy, particularly solar power, requires electricity systems to have resources that can respond quickly to changes in electricity demand.
In addition to fast ramping capabilities, the system also needs firm capacity to maintain a reliable electricity supply when renewable energy production fluctuates.
To address these needs, PLN IP is developing greater flexibility by retrofitting and improving existing power generation assets, increasing generation capacity, and developing flexible power generation technologies such as fast-response gas power plants, flexible Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) plants, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), and pumped storage.
These efforts are aimed at improving the response time of power plants, increasing renewable energy integration, reducing curtailment, and maintaining electricity supply reliability.
“We are not only looking at building new power plants, but also at how we can maximize the assets we already have. At PLN Indonesia Power, we are exploring various energy storage solutions, including pumped storage and compressed air energy storage, while also improving the capabilities of gas power plants so they can respond more quickly to changes in system demand,” said Bernadus.
According to Bernadus, optimizing existing assets is an important part of responding to changes in the characteristics of the electricity system.
PLN IP continues to explore various ways to improve power plant capabilities, including reducing the technical minimum load and increasing the ramp rate. These improvements allow power plants to respond more flexibly when electricity demand changes.
“We are also continuing to improve the flexibility of our existing power plants, including by reducing the technical minimum load and increasing the ramp rate. This allows our power plants to respond more quickly when the system needs additional capacity to balance changes in renewable energy production,” Bernadus added.
In addition to optimizing power plants, PLN IP sees energy storage as an important element in building a more flexible electricity system.
The technologies being explored include not only pumped storage, but also compressed air energy storage, which could become an alternative solution to support future flexibility needs.
The development of power generation flexibility is part of PLN Indonesia Power's efforts to prepare an electricity system that can better adapt to the growing use of renewable energy.
By combining new capacity development with the optimization of existing assets, PLN IP continues to support an electricity system that can accommodate more renewable energy while maintaining a reliable electricity supply.
More information about PLN Indonesia Power's programs is available through the company's official website at www.plnindonesiapower.co.id.
Media Contact:
Agung Siswanto
Corporate Secretary, PLN Indonesia Power
agung.siswanto@plnindonesiapower.co.id
(021) 5267666
About PLN Indonesia Power
PLN Indonesia Power is the largest power generation company in Southeast Asia and a subholding of PLN (Persero). The company focuses on technological innovation, operational efficiency, and energy sustainability to support Indonesia's national agenda toward Net Zero Emissions.
