China, Russia Offer to Collaborate with Indonesia on Nuclear Energy Projects

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Yuliot Tanjung stated that China and Russia are offering to cooperate with Indonesia in developing nuclear power plants (PLTN). The opportunity for cooperation with both countries, according to Yuliot, is related to the transfer of nuclear development technology.

Yuliot mentioned that the offers came when Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia accompanied President Prabowo to Russia on June 18-19, 2025. He said that further details regarding Russia's technological cooperation would be explained after Minister Bahlil returns to the country.

"So, for the technology offered, it is said to be from China or Russia, maybe from the Minister's visit yesterday," said Yuliot when met at the Energy Ministry Office, Friday, June 20, 2025.

Yuliot explained that Indonesia currently needs technology for developing small modular reactors (SMRs). He said that with this, the construction of nuclear power plants can be more measured and aligned with national energy needs spread across many regions.

Prior to this, Yuliot continued, Indonesia also explored opportunities for cooperation with Canada and South Korea. However, the plans were not realized because both countries are more focused on the development of Large Modular Reactors (LMR). "So, it turned out that it was not in Canada. Then in South Korea, we explored it, and apparently they have large-scale capacity," he said.

The government has included the construction of Nuclear Power Plants in the Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL) for 2025-2030. According to this plan, the government aims for nuclear power plants to begin operating by 2030 at the latest. The nuclear power plants are designed to contribute a capacity of 500 megawatts (MW) to the total additional generator target of 69.5 gigawatts.

Bahlil Lahadalia said that the use of nuclear energy will be implemented gradually. In the initial stage, nuclear power plants will not be built on a large scale, but will be distributed in several locations with 250 and 500 MW capacity.

"We will start operating our nuclear power plants in 2030 or 2032. Whether we like it or not, we must prepare all the related regulations," said Bahlil while leading the National Energy Council (DEN) session, Monday, April 21, 2025.

He said the government is currently drafting a Presidential Regulation on implementing nuclear energy projects, KP2EN. He mentioned that developing nuclear power plants is an important step., especially to help reduce electricity costs and support the target of net-zero emissions by 2060. "In the future, we will create it on a better scale," said Bahlil.

M. Rizki Yusrial contributed to the writing of this article

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