Mataram, Universitas Mataram – Business Sweden-The Swedish Trade and Invest Council (Swedish Trade and Investment Council) and Universitas Mataram (Unram) held a workshop entitled “Renewable Energy and Low Carbon Development in West Nusa Tenggara”. NTB-ed) on August 26, 2022. The activity took place intensively in the Senate Meeting Room, Unram Rectorate.

The workshop was aimed to be a forum for sharing about the potential, projects, and plans of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) in developing renewable energy and low-carbon development. This event allows the workshop participants to share good practices and examples, and is expected to lead to cooperation and collaboration between Sweden and NTB.

The activity was attended by the Deputy Governor of NTB Province, Mrs. Dr. Hj. Sitti Rohmi Djalilah; Rector of Unram, Prof. Ir. Bambang Hari Kusumo, M.Agr.St., Ph.D.; Vice Chancellor for Planning, Cooperation, and Information Systems, Yusron Saadi, ST., M.Sc., Ph.D.; Deputy Ambassador of Sweden to Indonesia, Gustav Dahlin; Head of Bappeda NTB Province, Dr. Ir. H. Iswandi, M.Sc.; The Head of the ESDM Office of the Province of NTB, Ir. Zainal Abidin, M.Sc.; Bureau chief; Academic Coordinator; Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Food Technology and Agroindustry, Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and Head of the Sociology Study Program.

Also present were the Swedish Trade Commissioner for Indonesia, Erik Odar; CEO of Eco Solutions Lombok, John Higson; as well as speakers from the Swedish company delegation.

The event began with a speech by the Vice Chancellor for Planning, Cooperation, and Information Systems, Yusron Saadi, ST., M.Sc., Ph.D. He mentioned that this workshop was able to provide a better understanding of the potential opportunities in NTB, particularly in low-carbon development and the energy sector.

“The purpose of this workshop is also to be able to determine the potential for strategic cooperation with Unram. I hope that this discussion can be the first step in an agreement that will be followed up with collaborations and can explore the potential of NTB,” said Yusron.

Furthermore, Gustav Dahli as Deputy Ambassador of Sweden to Indonesia said that he wanted this workshop to be a means to find the right solution to support government programs related to renewable energy. And it can open up opportunities for existing Swedish companies to collaborate with the government and also Unram as a big university in NTB.

In response to this, the Deputy Governor of the Province of NTB, Mrs. Dr. Hj. Sitti Rohmi Djalilah also explained the NTB government’s strong commitment to renewable energy. He explained the potential resources in several sectors in NTB, NTB’s long-term plans or programs in terms of using renewable energy, and related issues and solutions provided.

“We have a goal that in 2050, NTB Province can go towards Net Zero Emission (Zero Carbon Emissions-ed),” said Mrs. Rohmi.

The main event in this workshop was divided into 2 sessions. The first session was filled with presentations from the Head of Bappeda and Head of the ESDM Office of the Province of NTB and several Swedish companies.

Several Swedish company delegations who attended and gave presentations in the workshop included John Higson from Eco Solutions Lombok; Fikret Tumer from Eco Barge; Lars Vanelid of Hexicon; Matthew Schneider of Our Ecolution; Firdaus Wajdi from Waves4Power; and Rushikesh Dikule of Valmet. As for Dr.rer.nat. Teti Zubaidah, ST., MT. as the Head of the Center for Excellence in Science and Technology “Geomagnetic” Unram also gave a presentation.

The second session of the workshop was filled with group discussion sessions, in which the workshop participants were divided into 2 teams, namely the blue team and the green team. The blue team discussed topics related to maritime opportunities and projects and was moderated by Paul Westin of the Swedish Energy Agency. Meanwhile, the green team discussed agro, forestry, waste and biomass, and identified several project opportunities that could be further explored in green energy, moderated by Helena Bernland who is also from the Swedish Energy Agency. In this activity there are also several students who are involved in it.