SAMARINDA – State utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has been continually increasing its use of new and renewable energy. Its strategies to realize it include the program of co-firing palm waste in its coal-fired power plant (PLTU) Berau in East Kalimantan.
The company stated recently that it uses the eco-friendly palm shells, which are the wastes of palm oil mills, as partial substitute to the highly pollutive coal.
PLN Kalimantan Office General Manager Daniel Eliawardhana said that the palm shells are used in the co-firing project of PLTU Berau under a composition of 5:95.
According to Daniel, the co-firing project highly supports the efficiency of PLN’s PLTU. “The palm shells have higher calorie than coal that had been fully used in PLTU Berau. Since the co-firing project in May 2021, more than 500 tons of palm shells have been used under the co-firing project by the power plant, which has a generation capacity of 2×7 megawatt (MW),” he said.
“With the palm shell co-firing project, the use of coal in the PLTU can be reduced. As a result, its carbon emission is also reduced,” said Daniel.
Daniel said that the PLN’s green endeavor is in line with the government’s commitment to reduce emission by 314 – 398 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2030, and realize the target of reaching 23% contribution of new and renewable energy in 2025 by substituting the coal partially with biomass, and without developing new power plants.
He pointed out that to ensure the continuity of palm shell supply, they have secured a cooperation with some cooperatives and local people. It is expected that with such scheme of cooperation, the co-firing program will help generate the local economic growth. “That way we secure our supply of palm shells, and grow the local economy in the area,” said Daniel.
According to him, the co-firing project in PLTU units has also helped creating shared value (CSV), new businesses based on biomass and waste, and new job opportunities.
Based on data from PLN, the same co-firing project has been implemented in five units of PLTU in Kalimantan. The five PLTU units are PLTU Asam-Asam in South Kalimantan, PLTU Pulang Pisau in Central Kalimantan, PLTU Sintang, PLTU Ketapang, and PLTU Sanggau, which are all in West Kalimantan. (*)
Source: kaltimkece.id | Featured image via greeners.co
