Ministries agree to tackle fly ash from coal-fired power plants

The Director General of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR), Director General for the Management of Waste and Toxic Materials at the Ministry of Forestry and Environmental Affairs, and Head of Research and Development Agency at the Ministry of Public Works and Housing signed on Friday an agreement for cooperation on research and technology application to deal with problems caused by flay ash and bottom ash produced by coal-fired power plants.

MEMR said in a statement that as new coal-fired power plants are expected to come on stream in the next few years, coal requirement for the power generation in 2019 is projected to reach 166.2 million tons.

The fly ash and bottom ash production from coal-fired power generation is estimated at about 5 percent of the coal consumption, which translates to a volume of 8.31 million tons in 2019.

The ministry said that according to government regulation, fly ash and bottom ash are considered as toxic materials that may harm the environment. As such, the agreement is expected to help speed up efforts to resolve the problem caused by fly ash and bottom ash materials.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak