Indonesia to Have 50-Ton Biometanol Plant This Year

Indonesia is preparing to have a biometanol plant based on palm oil waste with an initial capacity of 50 tons per year. This project is being developed by Pertamina New & Renewable Energy (Pertamina NRE) as part of efforts to promote green energy and decarbonisation.

Pertamina NRE’s President Director, John Anis, targets initial biometanol production from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) to begin by the end of 2026 or early 2027.

“Hopefully by the end of this year or early next year, biometanol from biogas or POME at the Sei Mangkei Special Economic Zone can be produced. That’s around 50 tons per year or so,” John said during the CNBC Indonesia Energy Corner event on Wednesday (22/4/2026).

Furthermore, John stated that in the long term, production capacity is targeted to increase from 10,000 tons per year, then 30,000 tons, up to 35 million tons per year (TPA) by 2035.

The project is being developed through collaboration with Singapore-based cleantech company cRecTech Pte. Ltd., whose technology can convert biogas from palm oil waste into biometanol.

Both parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 2 April 2026. Currently, the project is at the proof of concept stage and will be developed in the Sei Mangkei Special Economic Zone (KEK) in North Sumatra.

John assessed that developing biometanol is important due to the large global demand for methanol, while demands for low-carbon energy continue to rise.

“So biometanol or methanol actually has a very broad market. It is indeed dominated by conventional methanol so far. However, with the demands for green energy and so on, decarbonisation, the need for biometanol is increasing,” he said.

For information, biometanol can be used as an alternative fuel in the maritime sector to replace solar or heavy fuel oil (HFO), as well as a cleaner and more environmentally friendly power plant fuel.