JAKARTA — PT Pertamina (Persero) said that the state-owned oil-gas company is ready to upgrade the implementation of the biodiesel mandatory program from biodiesel 30 percent (B30) to biodiesel 40 percent (B40) by utilizing the abundant supply of crude palm oil (CPO) as has been planned by the Indonesian government.
“We’re very ready for the upgrading of the biofuel production from the current B30 to B40,” Pertamina President Director Nicke Widyawati said during the Investor Daily Summit 2021 on Wednesday, 14 July 2021.
But she said that Pertamina needs to find a solution to reduce its production cost in producing the biodiesel, so that the biodiesel will be more competitive than those of the conventional energy sources from fossil fuels. She proposed that the price of CPO for the biodiesel production should not necessarily follow the global prices as it is produced in Indonesia and used for the production of biodiesel, which can be utilized as the primary energy source to substitute the conventional ones and to improve the national energy resilience.
She also said that Pertamina needs to ensure a sustainable supply of CPO from domestic market. “If we want to upgrade the production of biodiesel from B30 to B40 and even to B100, we have to ensure the sustainability of our CPO supply. We need to ensure partnerships with other companies, such as the state-owned plantation company PTPN in order to integrate the biodiesel production from the upstream to downstream sectors. Such integration will not only secure supply, but also increase its economics,” she said.
According to her, Pertamina will develop two kinds of bioenergy, namely biodiesel under blending program and under the stand-alone program. Pertamina will start the implementation of the stand-alone program in Plaju, where it has converted its existing oil refinery to a green refinery. “This green refinery will directly process the CPO into biodiesel 100 percent (B100). Later, we’ll develop such green refinery in other locations to optimize the production of biodiesel as one of primary energy sources to substitute the conventional oil fuels,” said Nicke.
She noted that besides biodiesel, Pertamina is now developing bio-gasoline. Pertamina is seeking to cooperate with the ministry of energy and mineral resources (MEMR) to implement the use of bio-gasoline. “We hope it can cut our import of gasoline. This is a necessary step as the government has targeted to stop the import of gasoline in 2030,” she added.
Increase
The MEMR New and Renewable Energy, and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) Director General Dadan Kusdiana said during the same event that the absorption of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), which is processed from CPO, will continually increase along with the upgrading of the biodiesel mandatory program.
“The use of FAME for biodiesel production has increased from a total of 6.6 million kiloliters in 2019, to 8.4 million kiloliters in 2020, and it is expected to reach 9.2 million kiloliters this year,” he said.
He said that the Indonesian government had started the biodiesel program since 2006, but it only started commercial production in 2008. Initially, it was under the program of 2.5%, then upgraded to 7.5%, 10%, and 15%. In 2016, it was upgraded to 20% and in 2020 to 30%. Until this year, the biodiesel production is maintained at B30.
Source: CNBC Indonesia/kontan.co.id | Featured image via fr.wessling-group.com