The introduction of nuclear power (microreactor) through the de-dieselization program in Indonesia

The Indonesian government is currently developing a program to achieve Net Zero Emissions (NZE) targets, one of which is the De-dieselization Program. This program replaces Diesel Power Plants (DPPs) to supply the electricity in remote areas with no electricity grid. Microreactors are an alternative solution for replacing DPPs in Indonesia. Microreactors, which have several advantages, including low social and financial risks, will be the answer to the problem of introducing NPPs in Indonesia. Currently, there are many DPPs spread over many locations, and a screening process for the readiness of the microreactor NPP site has been carried out. The initial screening process is to determine the feasibility of 200 diesel locations included in the Phase I List of DPP Conversion on the Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL) of PLN 2021 to 2030, with a capacity greater than or equal to 5 Mwe. The DPP’s capacity selection is based on the minimum capacity of the currently available microreactor NPP design. Then the further screening process uses three site rejection criteria, namely surface faulting, seismicity, and volcanoes. The screening result shows there are 70 locations where site aspect screening is carried out. Then, the results of the site aspect screening process show that there are 7 potential locations to be converted by utilizing microreactor NPP. Those potential DPP locations are in Tanjung Batu, Padang Tikar, Semitau, Kangean, Bawean, Salakan/Sambiut, and Lelang/Banggai.