Biomass Co-firing Promoted in 11th Clean Energy Ministerial
MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES
REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
PRESS RELEASE
NUMBER: 280.Pers/04/SJI/2020
Date: 17 September 2020
Biomass Co-firing Promoted in 11th Clean Energy Ministerial
The Indonesian government has continued to make breakthroughs in the use of biomass which is aimed at reducing the use of fossil energy, predominantly coal, and meeting the 23% target in the new, renewable energy mix by 2025. One of such breakthroughs is the use of biomass co-firing as coal substitute at power plants.
The statement was made by Bioenergy Director of Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Andriah Feby Misna, who represented Director General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation at the launching of Biofuture Platform in an online meeting within the 11th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM11) on Wednesday (16/9).
"We promote biomass co-firing at coal-fired power plants with the hope of meeting the target of additional energy mix of 1-3% by 2025, and we're committed to continuing the use of B30 as well as further developing a higher blend of biodiesel through B40 trials in the near future," said Ms. Misna.
In this co-firing scheme, Ms. Misna continued, the potential for biomass pellets which are made of all types of organic waste will be optimized. Such biomass development is expected to increase national self-reliance of energy and optimize the potential for biomass power plants, which has until recently reached less than 1.9 GW out of 3.2 GW total potential.
"About 114 coal-fired power plants have run co-firing tests using biomass pellets and RDF by up to 10%, depending on the boiler technology. We hope that in 2021, we can start to apply co-firing at coal-fired power plants continuously," said Ms. Misna.
Based on the commitment and study on the B30 trials and the B40 development, Ms. Misna explained, biodiesel blending--which has been applied since 2016--is an efficient way to develop more environmentally friendly solution to meet energy needs. In 2019, biodiesel consumption reached 6.4 million KL. In 2020, however, biodiesel consumption is projected to lower by 13% from the 2020 allocation (9.6 million KL) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "Although hit by the global pandemic, the Indonesian government remains committed to continuing the mandatory B30 program," she said.
Moreover, the government is preparing B40 trials. PT Pertamina and ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology) as well as other relevant stakeholders also support the trials by developing a catalyst needed to produce palm oil-based green fuel which is expected to be ready for production by 2023.
In this virtual event, the Biofuture Platform Initiative was launched as a new initiative in the CEM. This initiative is aimed at increasing international ambition and advancing the production, trade, and use of bioenergy sustainably on a global level through analysis, policies, programs and projects. The Biofuture Platform Initiative will be implemented in close partnership with the private sector. Bioenergy offers a huge potential for the renewable energy subsector, one of the most labor-intensive energy industries. This initiative is important for a successful transition to a low-carbon energy system, and has been promoted to be the core of any plans to recover economies hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. (IY)
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