MAXPOWER launches first marine supplied CNG power plant in RI

By Romel S. Gurky

MAXPOWER Indonesia, Navigat Group's power generation business launched on Thursday the first marine supplied compressed natural gas (CNG) power plant in Indonesia.

The company said in a statement that the 6 MW plant, located on Bintan Island, cost US$4 million to develop and construction was completed in only two months. It is fully owned and operated by MAXPOWER Indonesia and was financed through shareholder loans.

State-owned utility PT PLN fully endorsed this project and agreed to a five year offtake agreement, the company said.

MAXpower Indonesia's new Bintan plant will be operated with CNG supplied by PLN Batam and transported to Bintan by ship. The plant's output, derived from two GE (General Electric) Jenbacher gas engines, will be supplied directly to PLN. The state-of-the-art CNG fuelled power generation technology will reduce carbon emissions by half and production costs by 35 percent compared to traditional diesel-fired power, enabling PLN to make annual savings of S$4.5 million from this project alone.

Commenting on the project, Sebastiaan Sauren, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Navigat Group, said: "On many Indonesian islands, electricity is primarily generated by expensive and highly polluting diesel generators, which PLN has vowed to replace. Our low-cost low-emission modular technology is perfectly adapted to the archipelago's topography, and we plan to replicate the model across Indonesia. The opportunity in Bintan and Batam alone is a minimum of 200 MW and, given the cost savings we can provide to PLN, the economics are compelling. This is the first of many marine supplied CNG power plants. We are already working with PLN to double capacity on Bintan."

Ardian Cholid, Commercial and Business Development Director of PLN Batam, said: "This inaugural CNG marine project represents a unique and innovative solution to bring reliable, fast, and more affordable power to Indonesia's archipelago. This is a game-changer for Bintan, reducing diesel dependency and carbon emissions, and achieving very significant cost savings. Bintan's new power station operates with highly efficient gas engines, and construction was completed in just two months. We view this project as a blueprint in electricity generation for the entire country."

PLN is targeting to replace the existing 10,000 MW diesel- and oil-fired power capacity across Indonesia as soon as possible to reduce its current deficit and carbon emissions.

MAXpower said that its CNG technology is fully endorsed by PLN, and could serve to replace the existing 1,000 MW produced by diesel generators across multiple islands, thereby potentially generating up to US$750 million in annual savings for PLN.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak