Pertamina and Toyota Agree to Build Bioethanol Plant

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Deputy Minister of Investment and Downstreaming/Deputy Head of BKPM Todotua Pasaribu stated that Pertamina New & Renewable Energy (NRE) and Toyota will build a bioethanol plant in Indonesia. This effort supports one of the government’s strategic programmes related to the mandatory 10% bioethanol blending (E10) in petrol fuel by 2028 at the latest. The cooperation between Pertamina NRE and Toyota focuses on developing 2G or second-generation bioethanol based on multi-feedstock, utilising domestic resources such as palm kernel biomass, corn, and sorghum. “We know that ethanol is one of the renewable blended energies we plan to develop. The government has set a mandatory target by 2028 at the latest,” he explained at the BKPM building in Jakarta on Monday (20/4/2026). According to him, the collaboration between Pertamina and Toyota represents a synergy between state-owned enterprises and global investors in building the future energy ecosystem in Indonesia. With this agreement, the cooperation process has progressed from initial discussions to more concrete and measurable stages, providing clearer direction for project realisation. “This programme has actually been running since last year. But we have been quietly developing it. There is already a cooperation plan between Pertamina New Renewable Energy and the Japanese Group. In this case, Toyota Tsusho will be appointed as the partner,” he revealed. He mentioned that the bioethanol plant construction plan will take place in the Lampung region, as Lampung is one of the provinces with strong availability of feedstocks for ethanol. “As we all know, Lampung has large-scale sugarcane plantations. There are also cassava plantations and other feedstocks. So, in addition to building the plant, there are also plans to develop planting of one of the supporting feedstocks, namely sorghum,” he clarified. He stated that for the initial stage, the bioethanol plant’s production capacity will be 60,000 kilolitres (kl) per year. His side targets the construction of the bioethanol plant to begin in Quarter III or at the latest Quarter IV of 2026. “The budget is currently underway because a feasibility consultant has already been appointed. It’s almost done, so construction will start this year. Target in Q3, maximum in Q4 this year,” he added. On the same occasion, Chief Executive Officer for the Asia region Masahiko Maeda said that the cooperation is inseparable from the company’s involvement in the automotive sector business. He revealed that ethanol can also be used in vehicles that have already been produced. “Together with the government, we can provide (ethanol for) the types of vehicles we already have,” he concluded. As is known, the government provides full support for bioethanol development, including through biofuel blending mandate policies, with a roadmap of E5 in 2026-2027, then E10 in 2028-2030, up to a long-term target towards E20.