The governments of Indonesia and South Korea have agreed on bilateral cooperation to develop an electric vehicle ecosystem for public transportation services in Bali’s Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar, and Tabanan (Sarbagita) areas.
This agreement has been signed through an MoU by Deputy for Maritime Affairs and Natural Resources of the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency, Vivi Yulaswati, with the Country Representative of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) as well as the Deputy Regional Director of Northeast Asia, Jaeseung Lee.
“GGGI is in line with Indonesia’s commitment to become one of the 200 countries to achieve Net Zero Emissions by 2060 or faster,” said Yulaswati at a press conference in Sanur on Wednesday, 13th December 2023.
The transportation sector, continued Yulaswati, is projected to contribute up to 9.93 percent to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, petrol is a burden on state subsidies.
Yulaswati hopes that this collaboration will not only be about providing electric buses to be developed but also about providing charging stations and determining the routes.
“Hopefully, in the next three years, Bali can really become a successful model for us to develop in 20 other big cities,” she explained.
Jaeseung Lee mentioned that the three-year collaboration will run until December 2027, including a feasibility study, implementation, finance, and provision of electric buses, and other supporting ecosystems for the Sarbagita area.
“Currently, the world is focused on adopting zero-emission technology, including in the transportation sector. GGGI is trying to support the government to adopt e-buses, starting from Bali Province, and later replicating it to other regions in Indonesia,” said Lee.
The Head of the Bali Provincial Transportation Service, I Gede Wayan Samsi Gunarta, said that the Bali Provincial Government admitted to having planned this since 2020 through the Regional Action Plan.
“We have a 2019 Gubernatorial Regulation, and it has been mandated regarding that; then the problem arises of how we are targeting public transportation to be EV (electric vehicle) too,” he explained.
The plan is to start from the Sarbagita area first due to it being a metropolitan area and “having a sustainable urban mobility plan.”
There are also several ongoing plans, including a feasibility test of the core road sustainable urban mobility plan; therefore, the Sarbagita area must immediately transition to electricity.
Next in line for the electricity transition is Klungkung because this area is believed to be potentially prospering Bali’s economic growth.