TPOMI 2026 prepares to tackle palm oil mill challenges

The 4th Technology & Talent Palm Oil Mill Indonesia (TPOMI) 2026 exhibition and conference is set to provide solutions for the challenges facing domestic palm oil mills. Posma Sinurat, Head of the Palm Oil Mill Division of the Indonesian Plantation Professional Practitioners Association (P3PI), stated that future challenges for palm oil mills no longer solely involve pursuing production capacity. Instead, the focus is shifting towards creating super-efficient operations to maintain high plantation yields, reduce emissions towards decarbonisation, and significantly cut waste.

Scheduled to be held in Bandung from 8–10 July 2026, TPOMI will encourage the adoption of technologies that directly impact profitability, such as reducing losses and downtime, improving energy efficiency, and enabling more accurate decision-making. These technologies include Artificial Intelligence (AI), IoT, automation, predictive maintenance, and sustainability. “The principle is that technology must be applicable, measurable, and deliver a real impact on efficiency, productivity, occupational health and safety (K3), and mill sustainability,” said Posma, who is also the Chairperson of the TPOMI 2026 Committee.

Under the theme “Downstreaming Plantation Commodities Towards Palm Oil as a Pillar of Indonesia Emas 2045”, TPOMI focuses on updating technology and talent. Posma noted that technological sophistication will not yield optimal results without human quality; therefore, technological updates in the TPOMI forum always go hand-in-hand with upgrading human resource competence to ensure industry talent can operate modern systems with discipline and accuracy. TPOMI serves as a transformative forum bridging practitioners, academics, business players, the government, technology vendors, media, and students.

The event will also highlight innovations in environmentally friendly palm oil processing, supply chain efficiency, and crucial upstream challenges. One significant technological leap is the transition from conventional ‘wet processes’ to ‘dry processes’, which is expected to be key to decarbonisation and the downstreaming of high-value-added products. Krisna Septiningrum, Director of Chemurgy, Oleochemical, and Feed Industry at the Ministry of Industry, explained that this new technology is far more efficient as it operates at lower temperatures and utilises enzymatic processes and mineral additions.

Currently, most palm oil mills in Indonesia rely on the wet process, which requires intensive steam, resulting in high emissions and massive liquid waste known as Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME). Through the dry process, the resulting product is no longer Crude Palm Oil (CPO), but Degummed Palm Mesocarp Oil (DPMO) or Palm Mesorb Oil (PMO). Key advantages of the dry process include being environmentally friendly by reducing carbon emissions by approximately 7 per cent compared to the wet process, and drastically cutting liquid waste by eliminating steam usage. Furthermore, it is nutrient-rich, maintaining high levels of Vitamins A and E, which could serve as a substitute for imported raw materials for softgel supplements in Indonesia. The modular design allows for small-scale machinery (5–10 tonnes per hour) that does not require large water sources, enabling mills to be built directly near plantations. Pilot projects ranging from laboratory to warehouse scales are currently running in Yogyakarta and Sukabumi, with plans to expand to Labuhan Batu. If the MoU is finalised this year, physical construction is targeted to begin next year, with an estimated capital expenditure for a 2-tonne-per-hour mini-plant at approximately Rp13 billion, excluding operational costs.