PLN calls for government policy to deal with mounting FABA

State-owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) called on the government to issue a favorable policy that would help deal with the mounting fly ash and bottom ash (or FABA), resulting from coal burning at power plants.

Head of Work Safety, Health, and Environment Division at PLN, Helmi Najamuddin said in a statement Thursday that a government policy that can promote the use of FABA as raw material by industries such as cement is urgently required particularly outside Java.

He added that PLN has often found difficulties in obtaining permit from environmental authorities to open up new landfills to store FABA, a problem that must be quickly solved as the volume of the waste product from coal burning is mounting.

Helmi said that one of the problems is that existing Government Regulation No 101/2014 categorizes FABA as hazardous and toxic materials. He said that FABA would easier to be absorbed by industries as raw material if it is not categorized as hazardous and toxic materials.

Helmi warned that the volume of FABA produced from coal burning at power plants will continue to increase in the future as a combined 59.9 GW coal-fired power plants will be developed by PLN and independent power producers (IPPs) through to 2022. ?Therefore, there must be supporting regulation to help deal with the management of FABA at power plants owned by PLN and IPPs,? he said.

Helmi said that FABA produced at power plants in Java have been absorbed by cement and concrete makers such as Holcim, Semen Gresik, Indocement, and Wika Beton. The FABA has also been used as raw material by small industries to make paving block.

The problem is that FABA at power plants outside Java is mounting as it has not been maximally absorbed by industries, while PLN has been unable to get permit to open up new landfills.

This year?s coal consumption estimate of 80 million tons by power plants is projected to produce 4 million tons of FABA, or 5 percent.

Helmi said that FABA production in 2027 is projected to reach 11.18 million tons per month, a jump from 4.6 million tons per month this year. Meanwhile, absorption by industry in the period of 2012-2027 is projected at 7.16 million tons per year. About 229.62 hectares of land are required for new landfills.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak