Prabowo Reviews Downstreaming and Strengthens Energy Security

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - President Prabowo Subianto reviewed the progress of downstream industrial programs while assessing strategic national energy priorities. The review was done during his meeting with the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR), Bahlil Lahadalia, and several Red and White Cabinet ministers at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Monday, 22 June 2026.

According to a press release, one of the main updates presented to President Prabowo concerned the development of Indonesia’s electric vehicle battery ecosystem. The CATL-Antam car battery ecosystem partnership had been completed and is scheduled for launch at the end of July," said Minister Bahlil.

In addition to downstream development, he added, President Prabowo also received an update regarding national energy resilience and supply conditions. According to Bahlil, the government continues maintaining energy availability and reported that current national energy resilience remains safely above the minimum threshold of twenty days.

The continuity of electricity service also became a major topic during the discussion involving the government and state-owned power company PLN. They evaluated operational factors influencing electricity stability and fuel availability across the national power system.

Bahlil explained that annual coal consumption by PLN amounts to approximately 154 million tons across Indonesia’s electricity sector. Meanwhile, assignments issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to supplying companies have already reached around 180 to 190 million tons, while PLN had contracted 134 million tons.

According to the government’s assessment, existing contractual arrangements should have prevented supply constraints under normal conditions. However, PLN highlighted challenges related to obtaining medium-calorific coal required for blending processes to support electricity generation operations.

“The President’s directive to us is to immediately ensure measurable actions are taken to speed up improvements so that situations like this do not happen again,” said Bahlil. Following that instruction, the government emphasized immediate implementation measures to maintain reliable electricity services for the public.

To prevent similar issues from recurring, the government also established a coal procurement team involving PLN, the Directorate General of Coal, the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP), and the Inspectorate General. In addition, the government instructed PLN to accelerate maintenance activities to strengthen operational reliability and provide greater certainty in public electricity services.