DANANTARA PREPARES WASTE-BASED ENERGY INVESTMENT PLATFORM
The Investment Management Agency (BPI) Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara) is preparing an investment platform for the development of waste-based energy (waste-to-energy/WtE) to support national energy resilience while tackling Indonesia’s waste management issues.
As the keynote speaker at the ISEI Industry Matching and focused group discussion (FGD) titled “Waste-to-Energy Projects for National Energy Resilience” at the Bank Indonesia Representative Office (KPwBI) in Purwokerto, Banyumas Regency, Central Java, on Tuesday, Danantara’s Deputy Supervisory Board Chairman Muliaman Darmansyah Hadad stated that WtE development is a priority because Indonesia still faces major challenges in waste management that are not optimal from upstream to downstream.
“Indonesia’s waste problem is not simple. One of the main issues is the lack of sorting from households, making downstream processes require more complex technology,” he said at the event organised by the Indonesian Economists Association (ISEI) in collaboration with the Faculty of Economics and Business at Jenderal Soedirman University (Unsoed) Purwokerto and Bank Indonesia.
He noted that in developed countries, people are accustomed to sorting waste at the source, making processing more efficient and yielding higher added value.
In contrast, in Indonesia, mixed waste results in low-quality energy feedstock. Even, some materials with high calorific value are taken first at the collector level, leaving low-combustible waste at final disposal sites (TPA).
“This condition makes processing efficiency low and costs higher due to additional processes like drying,” he said.
Besides technical aspects, he also highlighted the social factors in the waste management chain, which is quite complex involving many parties, from scavengers to TPA managers.
Therefore, educating the public to sort waste from the start is key to improving the effectiveness of WtE programmes.
To accelerate WtE development, Danantara is preparing an investment platform involving various stakeholders, including government, private sector, and universities.
Through this platform, Danantara will act as a co-investor to boost confidence for other investors to participate in strategic projects, including waste-to-energy processing.
“Danantara is here to facilitate collaboration. With this platform, other cities can join, so project development can be faster,” he said.
He stated that waste-to-electricity processing projects (PSEL) are targeted to be developed in dozens of cities in Indonesia as part of National Strategic Projects (PSN).
Overall, the projects are estimated to require investments of up to tens of trillions of rupiah, with potential electricity capacity in hundreds of megawatts, and able to provide broad economic impacts.
Besides generating energy, these projects also have the potential to reduce carbon emissions, decrease waste volume at TPAs, and create new jobs.
However, he acknowledged that WtE energy production costs are still relatively higher than conventional energy, so policy support is needed, including electricity pricing schemes and attractive financing for investors.
“This requires joint support, both in terms of policy and collaboration among stakeholders, so the projects can run sustainably,” he said.