A team of students from the Master’s Program in Systems Engineering (MeTSi), Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), secured first place in the Graduate Student Paper Competition at the 7th Asia Pacific IEOM Conference 2026, held virtually on March 25–27, 2026, by IEOM Society International in Bangkok, Thailand. This international competition is part of the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) conference, which brought together participants from 56 countries.
The UGM team consisted of five students from the 2024 intake: Arham, La Ode Masri Ande Kolewora, Muhammad Taufiq, Saiful M., and Virtuous Ikmal Wicaksono. In the competition, Arham and the team presented a paper titled “The Mid-Term Forecast of South Sulawesi’s Renewable Energy Supply and Demand: An Application of Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning.” Supervised by Ahmad Agus Setiawan, S.T., M.Sc., Ph.D., the research addresses strategic issues related to projecting renewable energy supply and demand in South Sulawesi using the Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) approach. The study provides a comprehensive overview of sustainable mid-term energy planning and serves as a foundation for data- and system-based energy policymaking.
Arham explained that their paper focuses on projecting energy demand in South Sulawesi Province from 2025 to 2034. South Sulawesi was selected for its significant renewable energy potential, including hydropower, wind, geothermal, biomass, and solar.
“Among these potentials, hydropower is the largest due to the abundance of rivers and tributaries that can be utilized,” he said on Tuesday (5/5).
He referred to the Regional Energy Plan (RUED) of South Sulawesi Province for 2025–2034, which indicates that most planned developments involve hydropower plants. In addition, solar panels or solar power plants are identified as the next alternative.
“The development of solar power plants is planned as the second alternative,” he explained.
Furthermore, based on data obtained from the course New and Renewable Energy-Based Regional Development Systems, the team found that electricity demand has increased significantly since 2015 across all sectors, including households, industry, business, and government.
“All sectors have experienced an increase in electricity consumption. Therefore, we attempted to project the electricity demand between 2025 and 2034 across these four sectors,” he said.
In response to these findings, the team proposed two scenarios to address electricity demand. The first scenario follows the government’s energy transition program through 2034 by utilizing all renewable energy potentials in South Sulawesi and phasing out fossil fuels.
“The use of coal, gas, and diesel would be eliminated entirely, transitioning to 100% renewable energy. The second scenario combines fossil and renewable energy sources,” he explained.
However, based on their analysis, the most feasible approach is a combination of fossil and renewable energy.
“This means that a complete and immediate phase-out of fossil-based power plants is not yet possible. In the medium term, a combined scenario can be implemented, such as 50% renewable energy and 50% fossil energy,” he added.
Arham expressed hope that, beyond publication, this research could serve as a policy brief to be submitted to relevant stakeholders, including members of the House of Representatives (DPR), the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), and particularly the South Sulawesi provincial government, as a reference for future planning. This is especially important for energy planning.
The team’s success in the graduate student paper competition demonstrates MeTSi students’ ability to produce research that is not only excellent academically but also relevant to national energy development needs. This achievement further strengthens Universitas Gadjah Mada’s position as an educational institution that actively contributes to system-based solutions to global energy challenges.
The IEOM Society Awards is a prestigious international forum in the field of industrial engineering and operations management, bringing together academics, researchers, and practitioners from around the world. This achievement is expected to inspire other students to continue innovating and contributing globally.
Author: Leony
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Zabrina Kumara
Photo: Courtesy of the Team and PLN