Indramayu welcomes fisrt rice-husk power plant

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Indramayu, West Java

A power plant (PLTD) using a mixture of rice husk and diesel fuel has been introduced for the first time in Indonesia.

The commercial project was launched by private companies PT Pertani and PT Power Indonesia on Tuesday in Haurgeulis village, Haurgeulis subdistrict, Indramayu regency, West Java.

The plant, set up at the Pertani rice mill complex, is able to generate 100 kilowatts of electricity.

"Operation of the PLTD proves that rice husk, so far treated as useless waste, can now be used as an alternative electricity resource," said Ratna Arianti, director of renewable new energy and conservation at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

She was speaking after inaugurating the husk-diesel power plant in Haurgelis, accompanied by president director of PT Indonesia Power Firdaus Akmal.

Akmal said the PLTD operated when gas produced by high- temperature gasification of rice husk was mixed with fuel in a diesel engine to move a turbine to generate electricity.

"A conventional PLTD would run 100 percent on diesel fuel. But by mixing diesel fuel with husk-produced gas, it can save up to 80 percent of the fuel normally used for a conventional diesel power plant," he said.

Consequently, the operational costs to produce the same quantity of electricity would be reduced significantly, added Akmal.

Citing an example, he said that if a power plant with a capacity of 100 kilowatts were operated solely on diesel fuel, it would need 0.3 liter of fuel per kWh.

If mixed with gas produced from 1.5 kilograms per kWh, it only needed 0.06 liters of diesel fuel per kWh, he added.

Akmal said the diesel power plant using rice husk could be developed to help tackle the country's problem of a shortage of electricity.

Indonesia produces on average about 50 million tons of husk, or 43 percent of the total rice production, every year. That meant that potentially, electricity produced from rice husk could reach 1,600 megawatts annually, Akmal said.

He said the husk-generated power plant would be used initially to supply electricity to Pertani rice mills in Haurgeulis.

Akmal did not rule out the possibility of providing electricity from similar power plants to areas that were not yet served by state-owned electricity company PT PLN.

Arianti said the central government supported power projects that developed renewable resources.

"The development of electricity technology in the future will be directed to using renewable resources, such as wind, sunshine, sea waves and hydropower," she said.

She added the government was pushing for the development of microhydro power plants in villages and solar power plants in urban areas.

"It is hoped that the use of power plants with new resources will ease the burden on PT PLN in the future so as to prevent frequent, rotating power blackouts across the country," Arianti added.

In 1996, a hybrid power system, which uses solar energy combined with wind generation, was introduced by Womintra -- a non-government organization, in Oeledo village, Pante Baru subdistrict, East Nusa Tenggara.

Oeledo is the only village in Indonesia that has developed such a hybrid system to generate electricity.

Two weeks ago, delegates from at least 15 Asian and African countries made a one-week visit to East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) to study the hybrid power system.

The hybrid system produces environmentally friendly electricity at lower costs.