JAKARTA – State-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has applied a co-firing system based on Bio Compressed Natural Gas (BioCNG), which is processed from the liquid waste of palm oil, for its combined cycle power plant (PLTGU) Belawan in Belawan, North Sumatera province.
PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo said that the BioCNG used by PLTGU Belawan is produced from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME). “Indonesia as the world’s largest producer of palm oil has huge potential to convert the liquid waste into a sustainable and renewable energy source,” he said on Saturday (16/8/2025).
The use of palm wastes for energy production is not only an ecofriendly energy solution, but also creates economic benefits for the public, such as creating new job opportunities, increasing farmers’ income, generating growth of local processing industries, and reducing the impact of environmental pollution around the palm plantation areas.
PLN Technology, Engineering and Sustainability Director Evy Haryadi said that potential generation of clean electricity from the use of BioCNG in North Sumatera reached 478 GWh per year.
According to Evy, through the integration of BioCNG as alternative primary energy for power plants, PLN has managed to reduce its reliance on the use of fossil fuels by utilizing organic waste of palm oil into clean energy source.
“The use of BioCNG will contribute clean energy at 478 GWh per year to the total national power generation, saving around Rp48 billion from the reduction of fossil fuels and reducing CO2 emission at 80,000 tons per year,” said Haryadi.
PLTGU Belawan has total installed capacity of power generation at 1,184 MW and contributes 30.75% power supply for North Sumatera province and 10.96% in northern part of Sumatera. During 2024, biomass co-firing in PLN’s power plants reached 854,000 MWh, and its target of waste use for power generation will increase with the use of BioCNG.
The biomass wastes of oil palm trees, such as the palm kernel shells (PKS) and empty palm fruit bunches, are utilized by PLN for its co-firing system of power plants that usually rely on the use of coal and diesel fuel as primary energy source for power generation. (*)
web.pln.co.id. Perdana! Limbah Sawit Jadi Listrik: Kado Spesial PLN untuk HUT RI ke-80. https://web.pln.co.id/media/siaran-pers/2025/08/limbah-sawit-jadi-listrik-pltgu-belawan-pln. 16 Aug 2025
