Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – A number of world-class energy companies are turning to new and renewable energy projects, including Indonesia. In fact, the development of EBT products is not only carried out by oil and gas companies, but also by coal companies.
One of the national coal companies, PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA), is now also planning to develop new and renewable energy projects, such as coal gasification into Dimethyl Ether (DME) and Solar Power Plant (PLTS).
President Director of PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) Arviyan Arifin said PTBA is interested in entering the EBT project through the construction of PLTS because of the large potential for solar energy, which is around 207.8 giga watts (GW) of the total potential of EBT which reaches 417.8 GW.
Arviyan said that PTBA has a large ex-mining area that can be used for the construction of the PLTS project. He said, PTBA has ex-mining land up to 100,000 hectares (Ha), in Ombilin, West Sumatra around 1,000 hectares and Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra around 95,000 hectares.
“PTBA has a large area of ex-mining land. We have prepared to develop the power plant. In Ombilin we have 2,000 hectares. Say we operate 1,000 hectares (for PLTS), then there is a potential of 1,000 MW (electricity). In Tanjung Enim the post-mining area is 95,000 hectares, if we can use 5,000 Ha, it will be 5,000 MW, “he explained in the event” Tempo Energy Day 2020: Portrait of Indonesian Energy, Wednesday (21/10/2020).
Apart from ex-mining land, PTBA will also collaborate with Jasa Marga to develop PLTS on toll roads. According to him, the use of toll roads for PLTS has been widely used by European countries.
“In cooperation with Jasa Marga, take advantage of the solar panel building area. In line with PTBA’s vision, they do not want to depend on coal to guarantee future business,” he explained.
Apart from that, solar power will also be developed at the airport. PTBA will partner with PT Angkasa Pura II to build a small-scale PLTS at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Cengkareng. In addition, his party is also exploring cooperation with other airports.
“We start at Angkasa Pura, a small-scale PLTS at Cengkareng airport, has implemented and officially launched solar power. PTBA explores with other airports,” he said.
In addition to the PLTS project, his party is also reviewing a coal gasification project into a DME. Through downstreaming, according to him, the added value of coal can be five times higher.
“Now what we have to do now is that the downstreaming of coal has to go on. Previously, only PLTUs created added value. In China and other developed countries, added value is by processing into DME,” he said.
The DME project is useful for reducing Indonesia’s dependence on LPG imports. Regarding this coal gasification, PTBA is working with Air Products, a company from the United States, and PT Pertamina (Persero).
The cooperation agreement was signed in 2019, then in 2020 it was continued with a more detailed engineering design stage for preparation for factory construction Coal to Chemicals (DME), including preparing matters related to pre-construction factory construction.
This plant is targeted to start commercial production in 2025 with coal consumption of around 6 million tons per year for a minimum of 20 years, to produce 1.4 million tons of DME per year.
(wia)
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