Alfred Boediman, PhD.: Reimagining Energy for Indonesia 4.0

Aside from my degree and experience background in electrical and electronics engineering, I have implemented changes to answer business and technology needs across some areas in the technology and finance sectors. I also passionately believe there is a huge opportunity and long-term growth potential of Indonesia's energy market.

Despite the short-term challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and as nations rebuild their economies in a post-pandemic world, Southeast Asia has an opportunity to revitalize its energy sector. There are a lot of pillars in the downstream energy that we can observe. Renewable-energy systems have increasingly offered us more opportunities, such as a solar system which has been generated only by Singapore, or nuclear plantation which can be found in Japan and India up to this point.

I’m trying to embody my vision for energy with Kejora Capital by leveraging potential ecosystem opportunities to build and invest in the new breed of approaches to the projects based on companies' long-term strategic cooperation and development through financial resources and management decisions. It’s like painting a blank canvas to be able to collaborate with them and I personally believe the energy opportunities would become the next unicorn for our industry ecosystems; why not?

I think commercial businesses have begun making a great start in this more environmentally and financially responsible direction. Even simple changes, like turning off the lights, unplugging appliances that are not in use—these are small things but an important step towards a more sustainable business. Businesses that take the plunge are seeing fantastic returns on their investments and are inspiring other companies to bring this energy efficiency going forward. While the financial benefit alone would be a convincing case for improving our business energy efficiency, it doesn’t stop there. Again, money is not everything. Reputation is an important aspect of the business as well. So in social terms, energy use is an important part of energy business environment impact. It tends to be why companies who commit to using less energy will appeal to those who care about working for an environmentally responsible company. Attracting more businesses makes it more likely we'll choose the best team to make our businesses even more successful. Moreover, despite Indonesia’s relatively new exposure to these global trends or buzzwords—energy efficiency, sustainability, renewable energy, and green technology, Indonesia's energy domain can somehow improve its performance by this one simple thought: "reimagine and improve the way we consume energy”.

There are many challenges when facing this energy & sustainability technology within Southeast Asia. The challenges can come in several categories; First, it can come from the political economy, the renewable energy interest as government revenue and domestic energy resources become that challenging and political in some cases. Second, from the regulatory barriers. Somehow there’s a lack of coordination between government institutions, regulatory uncertainties, and frequent regulatory changes. But I think this thing will be better as it might take some time. Third, the market entry barriers. Energy subsidies as the force of fuels, regulated electricity tariffs, and attractive renewable energy tariffs are still challenging in Southeast Asia, so they can be challenging factors in terms of the commercial focus. Fourth, the technical barriers, which can be varied from geographic conditions, fragmented grid, and any limited capabilities. Overall these challenges can be likened through proper collaboration and engagement as what is Kejora Capital’s culture does to nurture the ecosystem in the region. 

I’m looking forward to the energy invention where everything becomes smaller and cheap or even free. For example, the energy storage system (ESS) now comes in smaller devices, such as hard disks and batteries. Expect a lot of compressed-air energy storage (CAES) technology in the future. My vision is to see it as infrastructural support for the industry, before applying it to the business creation.