Germany and Indonesia discuss potential geothermal energy sources

To overcome the current electricity crisis in Indonesia, EKONID (German-Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and DENA (German Energy Agency) held a geothermal energy symposium in Jakarta Tuesday. In dealing with renewable geothermal energy sources, the government has issued seven regulations," Luluk Soemarso said on behalf of Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro.

Government policies are securing sustainable energy supply to support national interests. Meanwhile the mission is aimed at securing energy supplies, improving added value of energy sources, managing energy ethically sustainably and preserving the environment, providing affordable energy for the poor, and developing national capabilities, he said. Luluk added that the National Energy Policy is aimed at improving the role of the energy business, achieving an electrification ratio of 90% by 2020, realizing energy infrastructure facilities, increasing strategic partnerships, decreasing energy intensity by 1% per year, and increasing local contents.

Indonesia is a potential country that could provide 40 percent of the world`s electricity needs, 27.6 Gigawatts, Dr. Surya Darma, President of the Indonesian Geothermal Association said here. However, only 1,025 GW geothermal power plants are built in Indonesia with installed capacities of 9500 MW in the 2004 - 2025 period, he said.. He said Indonesia has developed 18 geothermal sites, 15 are operated by Pertamina, one by a private company, another one by a cooperative organization, and still another one by state power company PT PLN, to generate more than 2000 MW in the next four years.

source: Antara

Investor Oman incar sektor energi dan pertanian

Investor asal Oman, Global Financial Investment Holding, berencana menanamkan investasi senilaiUSD35 juta atau sekitar Rp322 miliar di sektor energi dan pertanian.

Kedua sektor tersebut dilirik terkait besarnya potensi pasar yang ada. "Tadi pagi (kemarin) mereka datang ke saya untuk menyosialisasi keinginannya ini. Kami menyambut dengan baik," ujar Menteri Perindustrian (Menperin) Fahmi Idris.

Dia mengatakan, Global Financial Investment Holding berminat untuk masuk dalam industri pengolahan gas dan sektor perkebunan, khususnya sektor pangan, meliputi padi, jagung, dan minyak sawit mentah (crude palm oil/CPO). Pada tahap awal, perusahaan tersebut akan berinvestasi senilai USD25 juta untuk membangun pabrik pengompresan gas (compressed natural gas/CNG) di Bekasi, Jawa Barat, dan Jawa Timur.

Di kedua bisnis tersebut, investor asal Oman ini menggandeng perusahaan swasta nasional PT Energy CNG. Direktur PT Energy CNG Septo Adjie Sudiro mengatakan, kajian investasi Global Financial di sektor energi sudah selesai dilaksanakan. Awal tahun depan, pembangunan pabrik CNG akan direalisasi. Sementara di sektor pertanian, Global Financial akan memulai ekspansinya tahun ini.

Perusahaan itu telah memiliki lahan di Lampung seluas 100 hektare. Target yang ingin dicapai, kata dia, adalah memiliki lahan seluas 500 hektare dimulai tahun ini hingga tahun depan. Menurut dia, Global Financial sudah mengantongi izin Badan Koordinasi Penanaman Modal (BKPM) yang terbit Juni lalu untuk investasinya di kedua sektor tersebut.

Sementara itu, Dirjen Industri Agro dan Kimia Departemen Perindustrian Benny Wachjudi yang mendampingi Menperin saat menerima CEO Global Financial menjelaskan, investasi perusahaan tersebut disambut baik mengingat kebutuhan akan gas saat ini cukup tinggi.

Dia mengatakan, CNG dapat digunakan untuk memenuhi kebutuhan gas sektor industri dan transportasi. "Kalau dalam bentuk compressed,gas kan bisa lebih mudah didistribusikan," ujarnya. Menurut dia, industri keramik, makanan minuman, sertasektortransportasisangat membutuhkan CNG.

Benny menambahkan,meski rencana investasi ini masih pada tahap awal, investor asal Oman itu sangat serius dengan target realisasi awal tahun depan. Nilai investasinya pun masih bisa berkembang. "Nilai investasinya untuk skala menengah bisa mencapai ratusan juta dolar," ujarnya.

source: okezone.com | July 2008

Korea Gas ready to buy LNG from Tangguh at US$20 per MMBTU

A South Korean gas company, Korea Gas (Kogas), is ready to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Indonesia`s Tangguh field in Papua at US$20 per MMBTU (million british thermal unit), an Indonesian energy official said.

The price Kogas was prepared to pay would be the highest Indonesian LNG had ever fetched, Eddy Purwanto, deputy for operations to the head of the Upstream Oil and Gas Executive Agency (BP Migas), said here Wednesday.

"Currently, we are negotiating the volume and delivery period," he said.

Kogas would possibly buy up to one million tons per year deliverable from 2010 to 2012.

The price would include cif and was based on the assumed Japan Cocktail Crude (JCC) price of US$120 per barrel.

The deal with Kogas was an option in the diversion of a contract with Sempra involving a maximum volume of 1.8 million tons per year.

Purwanto said the Sempra contract would also be switched to Japan and Thailand.

"We have been negotiating the plan with Tohoku in Japan and PTT in Thailand," he added.

With the diversion of the Tempra contract, the average price of LNG from the Tangguh field would be 8.21 US dollars per MMBTU with the assumed JCC price at US$120 per barrel and the assumed South California (SoCal) gas price at US$10 per MMBTU.

"The value of contracts on LNG from Tangguh will have the potential of increasing to 19.7 billion US dollars," he said.

source: Antara | July 2008

PLN to overcome power deficit in 2010 : minister

Minister/State Secretary Hatta Radjasa said state-owned electricity company PLN was expected to overcome power deficit in 2010 after the government had completed the construction of thermal power plants (PLTUs) with a combined capacity of 10,000 MW.

The 10,000-MW power plants project was being implemented in two stages with the first expected to be completed between 2008 and 2009 and the second in 2010.

"We predict that in 2009 there will still be a power deficit. So, the thing that can be done in a short term is to shift work days to power-surplus Saturdays and Sundays," the minister told a press gathering here on Saturday.

Hatta Radjasa who was accompanied by Information Minister Muhammad Nuh said that alternating power cuts now being imposed by the government were not a long-term solution but short-term one pending the completion of power plants now being carried out.

He said that electricity consumption in the last five years grew by 6.7 percent and 4.8 percent during the peak burden while the capacity of power plants only increased by 3.5 percent per annum.

"Due to the imbalance between supply and demand, the reserve margin against the peak burden in 2008 is only about 21 percent," he said.

In the meantime, Information Minister Muhammad Nuh said that the government was taking several steps in order to overcome the shortage of power supplies by accelerating the development of the 10,000 MW PLTUs and shifting weekdays to Saturdays and Sundays.

He said that based on a joint letter of decision by five ministers, the shifting of workdays to Saturdays and Sundays was an effort to reduce 600 MW electricity supplies during the peak burden. This is because from Monday to Friday, there is a deficit of 1,500 MW while from Saturday to Sunday there is a surplus of 1,000 MW.

"If industries are unwilling to shift their weekdays to Saturdays and Sundays, they will be impacted by power cuts on working days," he said.

source: Antara | July 2008

China to build two steel plants in Indonesia

China Steel Resources Holding Company will build two steel factories with a combined capacity of three million tons per annum in Indonesia, an Indonesian official said.

The construction of the steel plants will be carried out in two stages within a span of five years with the first plant to be built in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

"In the first stage, the steel plant to be built will have a capacity of 1.5 million tons in Banjarmasin. It will be followed by the construction of another plant with a capacity of 1.5 million tons in the second stage," Achmad Kurniadi of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) said on the sidelines of an international convention of Chinese businessmen here on Friday.

He said the location of the steel plant that would be built in the second stage had not yet been decided.

"The investment license for the first stage in Banjarmasin which is close to the raw materials has been issued. For the second factory, the investor is till considering certain locations," he said.

Achmad hoped that Chinese investors attending the convention would be attracted to make their investment in other sectors such as the manufacturing and transportation sectors.

"The Chinese investors have looked at the mining sector in the country and we are waiting for their investments in the transportation sector as well," he added.

So far, Chinese investors generally invested in natural resource-based industries such as mining, plantation and fisheries, he said.

Running from July 18 to 19, 2008, the convention is being attended by representatives of 93 Chinese companies that have plans to visit Indonesia to explore investment possibilities in the trade, property, manufacturing, finance, energy and mineral sectors.

The Chinese companies are engaged in various fields of business or industry, namely 27 companies in the energy and mineral, 20 in the trade , 22 in the property, 22 in the manufacturing and five in the financial sectors.

source: Antara | July 2008

Indonesia to launch palm-biodiesel in September

The world's biggest palm oil producer is aiming to make mandatory the use of a 2.5% blend of biodiesel by September this year, the chairman of the National Biodiesel Development Team said, Reuters reported.

The nation has been pushing for the use of biofuels derived from palm oil to cut the use of costly petroleum products and ensure the fledging biodiesel industry survives rising prices of the commodity.

The government is drafting two ministerial decrees which will make the use of the biodiesel blend mandatory for both the industrial and transport sectors, Alhilal Hamdi, said.

"We expect the decrees to be completed by September so that we can put the policy in place at the same month," Hamdi said.

"The biodiesel mandatory policy will guarantee a market for producers. It will help idle biodiesel plants resume operations."

State oil firm Pertamina, which has been selling biodiesel since 2006, cut the blend in its diesel fuel from an initial 5% to 2.5% and then 1% due to rising palm oil prices and the lack of a mandatory policy.

The combined capacity for biofuel using palm oil as a feed stock in Indonesia is two million kilolitres per year but it is running at 20% of its capacity, data from the biodiesel team shows.

But if the mandatory policy is introduced, biodiesel capacity will grow to five million kilolitres a year by 2010, Hamdi said.

Indonesia produced 17.18 million tons of crude palm oil in 2007 while domestic demand stood at 3.8 million tons, mostly for food.

source: BKPM | July 2008

Indonesia, world's largest producer of palm oil, to force manufacturers to use biofuel

Indonesia, the world's largest producer of palm oil, plans to force manufacturers to use biofuels for some of their energy needs to reduce dependence on imported oil amid soaring global prices.

The government also wants to cut spending on fuel subsidies, which were put in place decades ago to protect the country's poorest but now account for almost half the budget.

Efita Legowo, a member of the Energy Ministry's biofuel team, said a decree would be issued in October stipulating that factories use palm oil and other cleaner burning fuel for 2.5 percent of their total needs.

The new energy policy sets a target of making biofuels account for 5 percent of the energy mix by 2025. Some critics of a similar European Union plan say the push for the use of biofuels is a major factor in soaring food prices.

Together, Malaysia and Indonesia provide 87 percent of the world's palm oil. Nearly 15 million acres (about 6 million hectares) is covered by palm-oil plantations.

source: Jakarta Post | July 2008

Geothermal power projects to cost US$19.8 bln, official says

The government estimates its geothermal power plant (PLTP) development acceleration program will cost US$19.8 billion, director for geothermal and ground water exploitation Sugiharto Harsoprayitno said here on Tuesday. ANTARA News reported (07/09/08).

He said the amount would be used to build PLTPs with a total capacity of 6,867 MW within a period of 10 years or 2009-2018.

"Of the US$19.8 billion, some US$18.7 billion will be used to develop new generators, US$791 million will be used to finance operations and maintenance of new generators and US$250 million for operations and maintenance of old ones," he said.

He said the government had set itself the target of building 30-MW PLTPs in 2009, 162.5-MW PLTPs in 2010, 335-MW PLTPs in 2011, 862-MW PLTPs in 2012, and 715-MW PLTPs in 2013.

In 2014, it will also build a 1,685-MW PLTP and a 1,650-MW PLTP in 2015, a 660-MW PLTP in 2016, a 435-MW PLTP in 2017 and a 330-MW PLTP in 2018.

Sugiharto said the government had so far tried its best to accelerate development of PLTPs.

In the meantime, Surya Dharma, director for operations of PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy, said that of the total capacity of the planned PLTPs (6,867 MW), Pertamina would build PLTPs with a combined capacity of 4,000 MW.

"We are ready to build PLTPs with a total cacpcity of 4,000 MW," he said.

source: BKPM | July 2008

Sengkawang to invest US$136 mln in Indonesia`s energy sector

PT Energy Sengkawang plans to invest US$136 million to build power plants and gas pipeline in Sengkawang, the regency of Wajo, South Sulawesi.

Company president Paul Ivan Edwards said Energy Sengkawan will invest around US$120 million in a 60-megawatt gas fired power plant and a 60-MW coal fired power plant projects.

The gas fired power plant is expected to be operational this year and the coal fired power plant to follow in 2010, Edwards said.

The gas pipeline project to cost around US$16 million will transport gas from the Baru well to the power plant.

source: Antara | July 2008