Feasibility study of biomass power plants completed

Feasibility studies for the planned development of five biomass and biogas power plants in Central Kalimantan and Riau with combined capacity of 20 MW have been completed, Kontan reported on Wednesday.

The feasibility study is part of cooperation between the governments of Indonesia and Finland under the Energy and Environment Partnership program, which among others aimed at luring private sector investment in the biomass power plant sector in the country.

Feedstock for the aforementioned power plant projects include coconut waste products (5MW in Central Kalimantan), palm industry waste (3MW in Riau), palm oil mill effluent (2 MW biogas plant in Riau), sanitary land fill (3MW in Riau), and waste from tofu processing plant.

Installed capacity of biomass/biogas power plants in the country remains low at 40 MW. The government has been trying to lure new investment into the sector as if aims to boost the capacity to 1,200 MW over the next five years.

In addition to increase the power purchase tariff of electricity produced from biomass power plants, a number of other measures have also been introduced. (*)