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Cofiring: PLN makes coal power plants a tad greener, but is it enough?
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Power supply: A technician examines a power bank to be delivered to a customer in Jakarta in this undated photo. State-owned electricity company PLN offers a rental service for jumbo power banks, which costs less than buying a generator. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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tate-owned electricity company PLN has introduced cofiring at 17 of its coal-fired power plants as it vows to meet its renewable energy target by 2025.
Since the cofiring technique was implemented following a trial in September 2020, these 17 plants have produced 189 megawatts of electricity, according to a press statement released by PLN on Monday.
Read also: PLN subsidiary to test biomass mixing on 15 coal power plants in 2020
The utility monopolist aims to introduce the technique at a total of 52 plants as part of its strategy to generate 16 gigawatts worth of power from renewable sources by 2024.
“The total number [of coal power plants using cofiring] will continuously increase in line with [our renewable energy] road map,” PLN executive vice president in charge of corporate communication and corporate social responsibility Agung Murdifi wrote in the press release.
Twelve of the 17 plants currently using cofiring are located in Java (including Madura) and Bali. The plants are run by two PLN subsidiaries, PT Indonesia Power and PT Pembangkitan Jawa Bali.
At coal plants, cofiring is the simultaneous combustion of coal and biomass to produce steam for electrical power. The technique can reduce greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. The latter two are primary causes of acid rain.
