TIDAL ENERGY IN INDONESIA: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

The transition to renewable energy is a vision shared by many countries, including Indonesia. Utilising renewable energy is expected to address energy deficits and improve environmental conditions in the future. As the world's largest archipelagic country, Indonesia has vast potential to harness energy from the ocean, including tidal streams. Many energy converter technology developers and energy business entities have shown interest in deploying their technologies in Indonesia. However, investing in the electricity sector in this country, as well as in other countries, is complex and requires comprehensive information before committing to energy provision projects. Since generating electricity from the tidal stream is relatively new, and there is limited implementation of tidal turbine generators worldwide, understanding the engineering aspects and business issues is essential. For instance, the available resource is not the only essential information for turbine developers; understanding the regulation and government policies in energy sector related, as well as understanding the local demand, are also crucial for the future development of the industry. This paper discusses the opportunity and challenges of implementing tidal energy conversion in Indonesia, from the technical, regulatory, and business aspects of ocean energy provision. The resources from recent studies, the characteristics of the ocean-related to energy conversion, and other technical aspects are also discussed in this paper.