Speaker
Description
Energy resilience is crucial for mitigating the effects of climate change, urbanization, and natural disasters, as well as ensuring the continuity of urban life. A resilient energy system demonstrates the capacity to recover rapidly from shocks and stresses, thereby minimising downtime and mitigating the socio-economic impacts of disruptions. As urban populations expand, ensuring reliable and resilient energy infrastructure becomes increasingly vital. In Semarang, Indonesia, where the population is experiencing rapid growth accompanied by rising numbers of households and escalating economic activities, the demand for energy is simultaneously increasing, putting significant pressure on the existing energy infrastructure. Furthermore, the city's dependence on non-renewable energy sources, such as fossil-based sources, has raised concerns regarding environmental sustainability and long-term energy security.
The importance of energy resilience in cities cannot be overstated, especially in the face of climate change's increasing impacts. Semarang City is vulnerable to various disruptions, including extreme weather events and hydrometeorological disasters such as floods, landslides, and high winds that can damage critical energy infrastructure and disrupt supply chains. Moreover, the interdependence of urban systems exacerbates the ripple effects of energy disruptions. Addressing these multifaceted challenges requires a holistic energy resilience assessment. A holistic energy resilience assessment aims to outline the Semarang City energy landscape and identify opportunities for improvement to enhance sustainability, energy efficiency, and energy security.
The research adopted the City Energy Resilience Framework (CERF) initiated by R-Cities through the Urban Power Profile Program. The CERF guides cities in applying a resilience perspective to the energy system and in working towards their overall energy transition and urban resilience goals. A holistic assessment covers four dimensions including people, governance, resources, and system to identify opportunities for building capacity and redundancy in their energy systems. The participatory process through a series of data collection and analysis processes involving cross-sectoral stakeholders leads to a comprehensive assessment of energy resilience.
The assessment of CERF goals is deemed highly critical for the robustness of Semarang's power system and its interconnected urban infrastructure. Governance initiatives emerged as a significant focus, reflecting the need for transparent, inclusive, and coordinated regulatory processes. Similarly, the importance of consumer-friendly financing solutions, comprehensive disaster management plans, and inclusive electrification strategies for universal access were stressed. These areas ensure that energy resilience efforts are equitable and benefit all community members, particularly the vulnerable and historically underserved populations.
This research highlighted the need for a structured approach to strengthen the city’s energy resilience, focusing on sustainability, inclusiveness, and preparedness for future challenges. To achieve these goals, five key strategies have been identified as priorities for advancing Semarang’s energy resilience covers scaling up the renewable energy initiatives, setting the energy priorities, strengthening stakeholder engagement, enhancing intergovernmental collaboration, and developing alternative energy solutions for disaster preparedness. This research contributes to a better understanding of enery resilience assessment toward advancing green and just energy transition for sustainable development.
| Keywords | energy;urban;resilience;climate change |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
