Jatenergy secures license to use Coal Plus upgrading technology
Wednesday, July 18 2012 - 01:14 AM WIB
Australia-listed energy firm Jatenergy Limited announced in a statement Tuesday it has secured a license to use coal upgrading technology called Coal Plus.
Coal Plus is owned by the Chinese technology company Zhengzhou Zhongneng Metallurgy Co Ltd (ZZM). The technology is currently used in three operating facilities in China with a combined throughput of 2.2 million tons per annum. Two more facilities using the technology are under construction, with a combined planned throughput of 8 million tons per annum.
Jatenergy?s licence covers an initial three year mandate period for use of the Coal Plus technology in Indonesia , Southeast Asia and Oceania, the company said in the statement.
With existing operations and substantial coal assets in Indonesia , the worlds? largest thermal coal exporter, Jatenergy?s licensing of the Coal Plus technology provides the company with several key strategic benefits. Coal Plus has the potential to unlock large, low grade coal assets that are otherwise uneconomic to mine. Such technology is particularly important in Indonesia , which has numerous large deposits of low grade coal.
The Indonesian government has recently implemented an export ban on certain unprocessed metals and non-metallic minerals, and has also indicated it may ban exports of low grade coal. Such an export restriction is intended to foster the use of value adding technologies such as Coal Plus, which would be essential in allowing miners of low grade coal to access export markets. As well as adding value, Coal Plus can provide local employment opportunities within Indonesia and generate much needed electricity, the company said.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak