Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Resources (MEMR) could not accommodate the proposals of various
bioenergy associations and developers on electricity transactions with US
Dollar (USD) exchange rate. MEMR must coordinate with Bank Indonesia for the
proposal on the use of USD in every transaction. “With the bioenergy
association and developers, we are already at the stage of finalization of
Regulation of Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources. But, suddenly there is
Bank Indonesia policy stating that transaction should use rupiah currency
“Director of Bioenergy of MEMR, Tisnaldi, told Business News (August 24).
One of the Clauses of the Regulation of Minister of
Energy and Mineral Resources is about currency conversion from Rupiah to USD.
If this clause is not removed, investors may be more motivated to manage
bioenergy. But the conversion did not automatically change the value of every
of electricity transaction. “The conversion, it is not for all transaction of
type (source) of bioenergy. For example, urban waste, the developers are still
playing with Rupiah.”
Changing of transactions has an impact on tariffs.
Bioenergy developers and investors will
definitely calculate the economic benefit of beach business transaction.
Bioenergy players of urban waste type, almost all of them are local players.
“As long as biioenergy management activities are strategic, we will liberate
the use of currency. Whether they choose rupiah of US Dollars, it is not a
problem for us. But, the value is in Rupiah”.
Electricity purchase by PT PLN (Persero) continues to be
driven, either by MEMR or various associations. Electricity generation can be
powered by biomass, biogas and others. Bioenergy-Based Electricity Producers
Association (APLIBI) jointly with MEMR will continue to corporate to guarantee
the purchase of electricity. “For biomass type, investment is mostly in US
dollar waste, due to economic considerations. But for urban waste, most of the
transactions were in rupiah. Investors worried if the fluctuations in the US
dollar could not be anticipated.”
Biomass energy is a type of fuel made from the process of
conversion of biological materials, such as plants. Organic materials can also
be obtained from animals and microorganism. Plants produce food with the help
of sunlight through photosynthesis. The energy is then transferred to animals
and humans when they eat plants. “Now there have been discussions between
investors and farmers. This is certainly encouraging, because it will lead to
more intense management of bioenergy. We started to leave oil and gas. So we
will cultivate bioenergy management with Pertamina. If this works, we will
prepare the regulation. We also need to know first about the conditions in the
field, including the potential for biomass. We will also continue to ask for
input from associations, farmers and all stakeholders.”
Biomass includes ten potential sources, i.e. sugarcane,
rubber, coconut, rice husks, maize, cassava, cow manure, urban waste and palm
oil. But from all source, oil palm is the most potential and prospective for
energy (electicity). “We recorded that there are 750 bioenergy management
centers in Indonesia. The overall potential of bioenergy reached 32 gigawatts,
and one third is derived from palm oil. Our calculation is that oil palm
produced 12.6 gigawatts or one third of the whole.”
Some energy crops are also commercial through farmers’
aquaculture activities. The scale can be enlarged to produce fuel. Various
sources of energy, such as wheat and soybeans produce ethanol, methanol,
propanol and biodiesel. MEMR will map oil palm potential with the existing PLN
(state electricity company) network. If the location and management of oil palm
plantations is far away, it would be difficult to synergized with PLN’s
transmission lines. “But if the location of oil palm management is close to the
location of transmission, it becomes our priority. If there is no IPP (Independent
power producer), we will try. We’ve set engineers to various regions, and there
is a special allocation fund (DAK). If investors cannot access it, we will seek
DAK.”
MEMR has socialized about bioenergy investment prospects.
MEMR assured that the technology is relatively simple for the management of oil
palm. During this time, in oil palm management, the company is often faced with
the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. Officer of the Ministry of
Environment and Forestry overseas the management of oil palm waste. But, with
the implementation of mandatory program on the use of primary energy mix for
electricity generation, waste is no longer a treat. “Oil palm companies are
being helped in managing waste into electricity. They are getting more enthusiastic.
But, in the downstream, we need PLN to purchase electricity. Everything is new
renewable energy, including bioenergy, solar energy, wind, and hydro energy,
which will encourage the achievement of targets of electricity of 35 thousand
megawatts. We could be on-grid (management) with existing PLN networks.”(E)
Business News - August 26, 2015
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