The Indonesian government is allowing a coal-fired power plant in Central Java to use seawater for cooling, sparking community resistance as fishers report a decline in catches and dividing locals forced to choose between compensation or preserving their way of life.  

What's happening?

Mongabay reported that Indonesia's Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries approved a permit allowing PT Bhimasena Power Indonesia, the operator of the Batang coal plant, to use seawater for non-energy-related activities such as cooling or for potable water production.

"This effort also supports transparency and accountability in sustainable marine industries," said Frista Yorhanita, the ministry's director of marine resources.

However, critics vehemently disagreed with the July 22 decision. Organizations such as Greenpeace and the People's Coalition for Fisheries Justice said that the project would further harm fishers and communities who relied on Indonesia's waters for income and food.

"The use of seawater in power plant operations, especially at the scale of the Batang plant, has significant impacts on the aquatic environment and water quality essential for marine life,"  Greenpeace Southeast Asia ocean campaigner Arifsyah Nasution told Mongabay. 

Why is this important?

The economy and culture in Central Java's Batang district depend on marine resources, but thermal coal plant operations are threatening locals' livelihoods and way of life.

Even before the government greenlit the plan to use seawater cooling — a process that Greenpeace said causes power plants to "essentially become giant fish blenders" — thermal coal plant operations had degraded water quality in Indonesia.

Citing a study from Gadjah Mada University's Center for Social Studies and Poverty Alleviation, the People's Coalition for Fisheries Justice said that shrimpers have reported up to a 50% decline in their income and daily catches since the Batang plant began operating at full capacity in 2022, per Mongabay.

Allowing the Batang plant to use seawater for cooling could further harm the area's delicate marine ecosystems, including its mangrove forests (which absorb carbon and protect against storm surges) and coral reefs (which contain compounds found in modern medicines).

What is being done about this?

Indonesia generates most of its electricity from coal, per the International Energy Agency. While numerous efforts to transition to cleaner energy sources are underway, Nasution told Mongabay that the government should "urgently" promote and support "the effective and efficient development of renewable energy" to phase out the world's dirtiest and deadliest fuel.

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Meanwhile, many locals are resisting BPI's presence, even though they have not received compensation — such as the 700 farmers who controversially took deals — and have dealt with intimidation from security forces, including the military, as reported by Mongabay.

"These are the issues that should be closely monitored and evaluated by the ministry to ensure it stands in support of traditional fishers whose rights have been increasingly eroded by industrial operations, particularly coal-fired power plants along coastal areas and small islands," People's Coalition for Fisheries Justice secretary-general Susan Herawati said in a statement to Mongabay.

"This disconnect highlights the growing gap between the urgent needs of coastal communities and the ministry's current revenue-driven agenda."

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