Small scale LNG, a solution for East Indonesia

Small and medium scale LNG facilities are a perfect solution for electricity generation in eastern parts of Indonesia, according to state owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, which estimates that fuel saving from this move could reach US$5.4 billion a year.

The cost of electricity generation in many parts of Sulawesi, Papua, Maluku and Nusa Tenggara at present is between twice and five times more expensive than it is in Java, as the absence of gas infrastructure forces those regions to use diesel.

?Unlike in Java and Sumatra, building an extensive gas pipeline network in eastern Indonesia is not feasible as the gas demand is fairly low. Small scale LNG facilities are therefore the most strategic solution to bridge the gap of supply, demand and geographical conditions,? said VP Strategic Planning and Busines Development Direktorat Gas PT Pertamina (Persero) Yenni Andayani during the 17th International Conference & Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG 17), Houston, in a statement.

At present, PT Pertamina Gas, subsidiary of Pertamina, is in cooperation with PT Indonesia Power, subsidiary of PLN, by establishing PT Pertadaya Gas which will undertake small scale LNG facilities in Maros, Pesanggaran, Tanjung Batu, Batakan, Pomalaa, Halmahera and Kupang ? expected to operate between 2014 and 2016.

Editing by Dadan Wijaksana