Govt promotes new regulation on biomass power plant investment
Wednesday, October 22 2014 - 05:56 AM WIB
The Directorate General of New and Renewable Energy is scheduled to launch the new Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) Regulation No 27/2014 in a number of cities in a bid to lure fresh investment in the development of biomass-based power plants.
The directorate said in a statement on Wednesday that the launching of the new regulation, which basically promises new incentives for investment in biomass power sector, is scheduled for 22 October in Jakarta.
It added that a ?socialization program? of the regulation will be held on November 5 in Medan, November 18 in Balikpapan, November 25 in Makassar, and December 12 in Mataram.
The directorate said that the new MEMR Regulation No 27/2014 replaces MEMR Regulation No 4/2012.
The ministry said that since the launch of Regulation No 4 in 2012, investment in biomass power sector remains small particularly due to falling rupiah against the US dollar, rising price of biomass feedstock, and due to power supply from biogas and biomass power plants are dominated by excess power scheme, not based on independent dedicated biomass power plants.
The directorate said that Indonesia has huge biomass potential estimated at 32,654 MW, of which only 1,716.5 MW has been tapped.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak