Indonesia still lacks of reliable human resources in the field of energy management. The issue caused the never-ending national energy problems up to the present. The abundance of energy reserves is not necessarily enjoyed directly by the people, but much more regulated by other countries. "We have people who are intelligent, but the energy issue is still hobbled," said Dean of the Faculty of Engineering who is also a member of the National Energy Board (DEN), Dr. Ir. Tumiran, in Human Resource Development in Energy Field towards Energy Security seminar, which was held at the Graduate School of UGM, on Tuesday (12/4).
Tumiran said that better management of human resources in energy management in the future is desperately needed since the national energy management is now much more governed by other nations. The government is seen as unable to do much to resolve the issue. He cited the production of oil, coal, and natural gas is currently mostly for export rather than to meet the needs of society and industry in the country. "If we are strong in energy management, the industry is strong, too. I see that there are global scenarios that do not want us to be advanced in the energy field," he explained.
According to Tumiran, energy supplies reserves that exist today should be able to support industrialization in the country, not all of the energy sold to other countries, like China and Singapore. "Imagine if our gas and coal are only sold domestically, our industry would grow and absorb more workers,” he said.
In addition, Tumiran criticized the government who do not have a clear roadmap for the management and development of energy over the period of 50 years. He said that currently the oil energy utilization reached 49.7%, gas 20.1%, coal 24.5%, and renewable energy (EBT) 5.7%. Therefore, the Board proposes that up to 2025, utilization of EBT should be increased to 25.9%, while oil 23.7%, gas 19.7%, and coal 30.7%. "In the future, utilization of renewable energy should be increased because oil, gas, and coal are increasingly depleted," he said.
Meanwhile, the Head of Corporate Performance of PT PLN, Ir. Hari Hartoyo, said PLN will recruit 20 thousand employees by the year 2018. To reach the target, PLN will recruit about 2,500 new employees each year. "We perform it because more PLN employees will retire," he said.
On the occasion, Hartoyo explains that the development of electricity in remote islands is still constrained by lack of infrastructure. PLN in 2011 implements a program to illuminate the 100 islets by using Solar Power.