Renewable energy brings wealth to Sinar Mas family

This article is part of Forbes’ 2024 report on Indonesia’s richest people. here.

The Widjaja family’s fortune soared 75% to $18.9 billion, driven by a seven-fold rise in the share price of Dian Swastatika Sentosa, the energy-to-infrastructure unit of Sinar Mas. Now, the family’s largest asset, Dian Swastatika, has recently been expanding its renewable energy and telecommunications portfolio.

Hendra Wardana, founder of Indonesian research company Stocknow.id, said that the substantial growth in profits of non-coal companies in 2023 will help stimulate investor enthusiasm. Although coal will still account for the largest share of Dian Swastika’s $5 billion in revenue in 2023, sales fell 18% due to weaker prices.

In September, Dian Swastatika said it would spend $400 million to develop two geothermal projects with a power generation potential of more than 80 megawatts. It has also partnered with Asset Management, the Korean investment entity of South Korean tycoon Kim Nam-goo, to build a $300 million data center in Jakarta.

Separately, Sinar Mas Group also plans to merge its telecom unit Smartfren with Indonesia’s third-largest telecom company XL Axiata to compete with larger rivals: state-owned Telkomsel and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison. Its real estate arm Sinar Mas Land is building a $1 billion special economic zone in BSD City, a 6,000-hectare suburb of Jakarta that will include schools and hospitals.