New Coal-to-Gas Transformation Could Explode Added Value by 5.7 Times!

PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) is continuously striving to boost coal downstreaming, which is deemed capable of significantly enhancing added value compared to selling raw coal.

PTBA’s President Director, Arsal Ismail, revealed that the development of coal-to-synthetic natural gas (SNG) is one of the initiatives to be pursued. This project not only aims to strengthen energy supplies but also to increase added value by up to 5.7 times.

“Economically, the SNG product will provide added value of up to 5.7 times compared to raw coal sales,” Arsal stated during a working meeting with Commission XII of the House of Representatives, on Monday (13/4/2026).

The project is intended to provide an alternative gas supply, particularly in the South Sumatra to West Java region. In its development plan, the SNG project requires around 9 million tonnes of coal and is targeted to produce a capacity of 237 BBTUD.

In its development scheme, PTBA will form a joint venture with PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk (PGN), which will also serve as the 100% off-taker of the produced SNG.

Besides SNG, PTBA is also developing a coal downstreaming project into dimethyl ether (DME) as an alternative to imported LPG. This project is projected to increase added value by up to 4.3 times.

“This project will provide added value of around 4.3 times compared to using coal directly as fuel,” he said.

The project is targeted to have a capacity of around 1.4 million. In its implementation, PTBA will act as the factory operator and coal supplier, while Pertamina will be the off-taker absorbing the entire DME production.

“This is still in process; we are proceeding with Danantara, hopefully the economics will make PTBA even better,” he added.