Beyond Oil: Pertamina's Portfolio of Green Energy Projects

PT Pertamina New and Renewable Energy (NRE) is continuing to push green energy projects not only to support the energy transition but also as an effort to increase the availability of new and renewable energy domestically. Pertamina NRE President Director John Anis disclosed the company’s strategy to accelerate the energy transition through various renewable technology innovations, including developing geothermal energy and the non-electrification sector. “Our geothermal potential is extraordinarily large, we have 3 gigawatts, currently only producing 727 megawatts, and we are heading towards 1 gigawatt. Hopefully, it can be fast. This is to help the electrification mentioned earlier,” he stated at the CNBC Indonesia Energy Forum in Jakarta. Pertamina NRE is also developing bioethanol with a multi-feedstock scheme to reduce dependence on imported fuel oil, particularly petrol. One of its main projects is processing molasses into bioethanol in Banyuwangi to produce more environmentally friendly fuel. “We are collaborating, of course, on the molasses we are running. We just returned from Glenmore in Banyuwangi, we are working with SGN which will supply the molasses to produce 33,000 kilolitres per year as the first molasses-based project, and we will add at least around five more,” John said. In addition to sugarcane, PNRE is reactivating a cassava factory in Lampung and exploring the development of biomethanol from palm oil mill effluent. The use of this new technology is claimed to be able to cut production stages so that the product’s selling price becomes more competitive in the market. “To make traditional biomethanol, there are four stages, reforming in four stages, we cut it down to two stages so the price is discounted by 50 per cent. This will approach the price of grey methanol. We will try this later with palm oil to make FAME,” he explained. The company is also expanding into the biomass sector by trialling the use of wood pellets as an alternative energy source to replace LPG for small business sectors. All of these green energy initiatives are projected to strengthen Indonesia’s energy sovereignty while supporting the achievement of the net zero emissions target. “Earlier we talked about replacing LPG. So we are trying wood pellets, for instance, to make fried rice at a street food stall, using wood pellets might be cheaper and easier because without a flame it somehow doesn’t taste right,” he concluded.