Government to stop using gasoline for power

plants
Monday, July 13 2020 - 11:09AM WIB

Photographer: Lucky
By Nova Farida
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) has set a target for the country's
power plants to scrap using diesel fuel in three years' time as part of the energy transition
program.
Minister of EMR Arifin Tasrif said the energy transition is a move by the government to
reduce dependence on fossil fuel.
"We are targeting to replace all diesel or PLTD power plants within the next three years,
with gas and renewable energy (RE-based)," he said at the weekend.
Separately, Director for Mega Projects of the state-owned electricity company PT
Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Ikhsan Asaad said as a move to reduce fossil fuel use,
PLN has encouraged the use of RE-based power plants in remote and border areas.
Read also: Ministerial decree on gas price for power plants
The program is a move to increase the share of RE-based power plants in the national
energy mix to 23 percent in 2025.
He said PLN has also converted some of diesel power plants in Maluku and Papua region
with solar, biomass or mini-hydropower plants.
PLN has earlier unveiled a plan to convert diesel power plants in eastern Indonesia, with a
combined capacity of 2.6 GW with estimated total costs of Rp84.1 trillion.
Furthermore, in February this year, PLN and state-owned energy company PT Pertamina,
have been given an assignment by the government to carry out diesel fuel to gas/LNG
conversion.
The program is targeted to be completed within in 2022.
Read also: PLN needs huge funds to develop RE-based power plants
Under the conversion program, 52 diesel power plants will be converted into gas-based
power plants, with a combined capacity of 1,697 MW. Gas demand for all of these power
plants is projected to reach 148.34 MMBTU. The program is projected to reduce the use
of 1.6 million kiloliters of fuel per annum.
Ikhsan added PLN will also carry out a co-firing program on its existing coal-fired power
plants (PLTUs) by substitute the portion of coal with biomass. The program will be applied
to 52 PLTUs with total biomass generating capacity of 1 GW and capital expenditure of
Rp1.4 trillion.
So far, PLN has carried out co-firing program in six PLTUs, namely PLTU Jeranjang in
Lombok West Nusa Tenggara province (3x25 MW), operated by PT Indonesia Power.
The five other power plants are operated by PT Pembangkitan Jawa Bali (PJB) type PC
(Pulverized Coal) and CFB (Circulating Fluidized Bed), namely PLTU Paiton (2x400
MW), PLTU Indramayu (3x330 MW), PLTU Rembang in Central Java (2x300 MW),
PLTU Ketapang in West Kalimantan (2x10 MW) and PLTU Tenayan in Riau (2x100
MW). The five PLTUs use wood pellets and palm shells as sources of biomass.
Editing by Roffie Kurniawan