Raw Material Constraints in Biomass Cofiring PLTU Indonesia

Illustration of wood pellet, Reglobal.co
  • Biomass cofiring is one of the activities in the Green Booster program that can be interpreted as top priority, most expected, and relied on to increase the proportion of new renewable energy in the national energy mix.
  • Biomass cofiring at PLTU in Indonesia began in June 2020 at PLTU Paiton 1-2, using sawdust and woodchips; now, biomass cofiring has been implemented in 36 PLTU PLN; the 36th PLTU that implements biomass cofiring is PLTU Sebalang, beginning December 21, 2022.
  • The ideal conditions for a national scale cofiring biomass industry are long-term supply at an economical price and funding support available, however, until now, there has been no long-term supply.

Indonesian Biomass Cofiring Target

The Indonesian government is looking for a breakthrough in biomass utilization to reduce the use of fossil energy, specifically coal, which is still dominant, and to promote the achievement of the new renewable energy mix target of 23% by 2025. One of the areas being promoted is the use of co-firing biomass in power plants as a substitute for coal. Biomass cofiring is one of the activities in the Green Booster program that can be interpreted as top priority, most expected, and relied on to increase the proportion of new renewable energy in the national energy mix. Quoted from the website of the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Director of Bioenergy at the Directorate General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Andriah Feby Misna said that “We encourage co-firing of biomass in coal-fired power plants in the hope of meeting the target of an additional energy mix of 1-3 % in 2025 and is committed to continuing the use of B30 and will continue to develop higher blended biodiesel in the near future, namely the B40 trial”. Biomass development whose utilization potential will be optimized is biomass pellets sourced from all types of organic waste with the hope that it will increase national energy independence and optimize the potential for biomass power plants which so far have only reached less than 1.9 GW out of a total potential of around 32 GW.

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Current Implementation of Biomass Cofiring in Indonesia

Illustration of steam power plant, Freepik.com

At PLTU, biomass cofiring adds biomass as a partial replacement fuel to the coal boiler without requiring significant modification. Biomass can be derived from plants (wood chips and pellets) or from waste. The cofiring technique used is called “Direct Cofiring”. Cofiring of biomass through direct combustion is the simplest and most widely used technology currently available. Because biomass contains less sulfur, it is thought to be capable of reducing global warming and rapidly increasing the renewable energy mix. Because it only uses existing power plants, biomass is also considered simple and inexpensive because it does not necessitate the construction of a new power plant. In addition, cofiring biomass provides community welfare because it creates a multiplier effect for the community in the supply of biomass. On the other hand, it saves fossil or coal energy and provides an alternative to waste management without the need to construct a PLTSA. According to MEBI, biomass cofiring at PLTU in Indonesia began in June 2020 at PLTU Paiton 1-2, using sawdust and woodchips; now, biomass cofiring has been implemented in 36 PLTU PLN; the 36th PLTU that implements biomass cofiring is PLTU Sebalang, beginning December 21, 2022.

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Absence of Long Term Cofiring Biomass Raw Material Supply

Illustration of wood pellet material for cofiring biomass, Freepik.com

The issue is that there are not nearly enough raw materials made from biomass, which means that the cofiring project, from an economic standpoint, has not been fulfilled. Alternatively, the cost of using biomass is higher than the cost of using coal in its purest form. In point of fact, the cofiring program has the potential to make a beneficial contribution to Indonesia’s economic turnover by, among other things, creating new job opportunities and offering new approaches to the problem of waste management. The availability of a supply of raw materials in the form of production forest products, palm shells, or waste that is not only simple to obtain but also maintains its quality is an essential component of sustainable development. “Shifting to biomass” is occurring in a variety of Indonesian industries, which makes sense when one considers the rising cost of biomass (wood pellets) on the international market. The market for export promises very high prices, while the domestic market for non-energy uses also offers prices that are higher than the price of biomass for cofiring. It is possible to obtain prices that are competitive if the distance from the distribution point of the biomass raw materials to the location of the PLTU is less than or equal to one hundred kilometers. The ideal conditions for a national scale cofiring biomass industry are long-term supply at an economical price and funding support available, however, until now, there has been no long-term supply.

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Editor: Himatul Azqiya

Referensi

[1] Perkembangan Cofiring Biomassa pada PLTU

[2] Indonesia’s Biomass Cofiring Bet: Beware of the Implementation Risks

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