The Indonesian government recently said that it will vigorously develop clean hydrogen projects and highlighted Indonesia's potential as a regional leader in hydrogen production.

It is reported that Indonesia is currently planning to develop clean hydrogen projects in several regions of the country. Jodi Mahathir, Deputy Minister for the Coordination of Maritime and Investment Affairs, said there are five clean hydrogen projects under development in Indonesia that will leverage significant domestic renewable energy and carbon sequestration capabilities to produce green and blue hydrogen. Among the five clean hydrogen projects, the first is the Batam Island and Bintan Island green hydrogen cluster, with a planned annual capacity of 25,000 to 100,000 tons, which is expected to be put into operation in the first quarter of 2027. It is followed by the Sumatra Clean Hydrogen Cluster, the Cilegon Clean hydrogen cluster, the North Sulawesi Green Ammonia cluster and the Sumatra-Java Blue Ammonia Project, and the planned annual capacity needs to be further confirmed. These projects will be put into operation from the first quarter of 2027 to the first quarter of 2030.

Jordi said: "With countries' efforts to decarbonise and build hydrogen ecosystems, hydrogen will play a key role in the global energy system. Indonesia is expected to become a leader in hydrogen production in the region, and the hydrogen industry offers new opportunities to drive higher economic growth in Indonesia. Indonesia is close to countries with high demand for clean hydrogen such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, where the hydrogen market demand is about 4 million tons per year. Indonesia currently has the second largest natural gas reserves in the Asia-Pacific region, the second largest geothermal potential in the world, and is on track to install more than 200 GW of solar power."

As countries strive to achieve net zero emissions, global hydrogen demand is expected to increase more than fourfold between 2020 and 2050. Editor/Xu Shengpeng