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More biofuel factories needed for B50 program: Ministry
The energy ministry says the number of biofuel plants needs to expanded by seven to nine new facilities to support the President's aim to roll out the mandatory B50 program in four years' time.
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A worker uses a special tool on April 27, 2022, to load fresh fruit bunches (FFB) onto a truck at a palm oil plantation in Pekanbaru, Riau, for transporting to a crude palm oil processing factory. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
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ndonesia needs between seven and nine new biofuel production facilities to increase the share of processed palm oil in the national biodiesel mix by 2028, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said.
The 2028 biodiesel program would require fuel producers, especially state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina, to increase the share of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) derived from palm oil to 50 percent in the B50 biofuel mix, with the rest to come from diesel fuel with cetane number (CN) 48.
The current B35 program was launched in August last year, and the government aims to roll out the mandatory B40 program on Jan. 1, 2025.
The ministry’s Bioenergy Director Edi Wibowo estimated that the B50 mix would require a supply of 19.7 million kiloliters (kL) of biofuel, or 3.9 million kL more than the 15.8 million kL needed for the B35 program.
Meanwhile, roughly US$360 million in investment would be needed to expand the country’s biofuel production capacity to support the B50 program, according to Edi.
He noted, however, that the existing capacity of 24 producers would suffice to roll out the B40 program next year with a minimal shortfall of just 0.3 million kL.
“But later, maybe we will [ask] existing producers to increase production,” Edi said in Bali on Thursday, as reported by Bisnis.com.
