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PLN to burn biomass at 35 coal plants by year-end
The state-owned electricity company has introduced cofiring at 32 of its coal-fired power plants as it vows to meet its renewable energy target by 2025, but activists question how big a difference that will make.
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An employee works on a truck filled with coal at the Karya Citra Nusantara (KCN) Marunda port in Jakarta on Jan. 17. (AFP/Adek Berry)
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tate-owned electricity company PLN has introduced cofiring at 32 of its coal-fired power plants as it vows to meet its renewable energy target by 2025, but activists say the government still needs to push for more renewable energy and retire coal plants early to make good on its climate pledges.
Since the cofiring technique was implemented following a trial in September 2020, these 32 plants have produced 487 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity, according to a press statement released by PLN on Monday. PLN aims to start cofiring at three more plants by year-end.
“The cofiring program is one of PLN's short-term efforts to reduce carbon emissions because the cofiring program does not require investment for the construction of new power plants,” PLN president director Darmawan Prasodjo said in the statement, adding that the company aimed to introduce cofiring at a total of 52 plants as part of its strategy to generate 18.15 gigawatts worth of power from 10.2 million tons of biomass by 2025.
Read also: Cofiring: PLN makes coal power plants a tad greener, but is it enough?
The 32 plants are expected to consume 450,000 tons of biomass in 2022 and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 340,000 tons in the full year.
Biomass accounts for around 5 percent of the feedstock at the plants, while the remaining 95 percent still comes from coal, according to Adila Isfandiari, an energy and climate change researcher at environmental advocacy group Greenpeace Indonesia.
The amount of biomass used in PLN coal plants is estimated to reduce carbon emissions of the plants by around 3.2 percent, Adila said.
