Baseline Evaluation and Policy Implications for Air Conditioners in Indonesia

Rapid adoption of air conditioners (ACs) in Indonesia is driving an unprecedented increase in electricity demand. Meeting this added demand will require an estimated investment of $US40 billion in electricity generation. Ambitious energy-efficiency policies are urgently needed to address this growing challenge.

In 2015, the Indonesian government established the first standards and labeling program (S&L) for ACs. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), through its activities in support of the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment initiative, identified lack of market data as a major impediment to development of a rational, effective policy to address AC energy demand in the country. This paper aims to establish a market efficiency baseline in order to (1) inform program design of the next AC S&L program in Indonesia and (2) allow for tracking the impact of that program in relation to a robust baseline.

LBNL has collected data by deploying the International Database of Efficient Appliances (IDEA) in Indonesia. On-the-ground contributors collected data using smart-phone technology, and data were also obtained from manufacturer websites and government registration data associated with the newly implemented S&L program. The resulting database gives a detailed, robust picture of Indonesia’s AC market, including product characteristics, efficiency ratings, and retail prices.

This paper presents AC efficiency and price distributions according to Indonesian efficiency label (star) rating. We include characteristics of products from local manufacturing and imports to address Indonesian government concerns regarding local industry. Based on these data, LBNL estimates the cost of conserved energy of different efficiency targets and formulate a set of policy recommendations to help increase the energy savings from Indonesia’s S&L program. The recommendations include revising the S&L program for ACs, increasing stakeholder engagement, identifying regulatory barriers/reforms need and institutionalizing the type of analysis presented in this paper for future S&L revisions.