Minister inaugurates biomass power plant in Gorontalo

State Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Dahlan Iskan on Monday inaugurated the country?s first biomass power plant using corn cobs as source of fuel.

Located in Pulubala District, Gorontalo Regency, Gorontalo Province, the largest corn-producing province in the country, the 500 kW power plant will help increase electricity supply in the province, state-owned electricity firm PLN said in a statement.

Dahlan said that the Pulubala power plant marks the start of the development more biomass-based power plants in the country. He added that cost of electricity production using corn cobs as fuel is about Rp 1,058 per Kwh, much cheaper than the Rp 2,900 per Kwh if using petroleum fuel.

Vice Governor of Gorontalo added that more biomass-based power plants, particularly using corn cobs as source of fuel, will also be developed in Gorontalo with capacity ranging from 500 kW to over 1 MW.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak