Participants of the 100% RE webinar on co-firing potential in WNT.

Accelerating the deployment of renewable energy is crucial in achieving Indonesia’s net zero emission (NZE) target, taking into account that in 2019, the energy sector, most especially traditional power plants, contributed 43.83% —or 638.452 gigagrams (Gg) CO2e— of the country’s emissions according to the 2020 Energy Sector’s emission inventory and greenhouse gas report of the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM).

Since declaring its ambitious target to achieve net-zero by 2050 at COP26 in Glasgow, the government of West Nusa Tenggara (WNT) in Indonesia has been committed to exploring collaborations and developing capacity building with partners and stakeholders towards the development of renewable energy in the province. 

To facilitate knowledge-sharing, ICLEI Indonesia with the WNT’s ESDM Office kicked off the 100% Renewable Energy (RE) Webinar Series on 8 December 2022. The inaugural webinar titled “Co-firing potential as a strategy towards energy transition and West Nusa Tenggara net zero emissions 2050” aimed to share and discuss successful lessons and best practices in WNT’s implementation of biomass co-firing in its steam power plants (PLTU). 

Biomass co-firing is a coal substitution method which utilizes biomass waste as a partial fuel substitute in power plants. It is expected to reduce the amount of carbon emissions produced and accelerate the energy transition of Indonesia in general, and WNT in particular.

Nurhandini Eka Dewi, the Regional Secretary of WNT, shared that one of the co-firing trials initiated by the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is being implemented in WNT. The province’s 35 MW Jeranjang PLTU currently uses municipal organic and inorganic waste as a coal substitute.

“We are targeting 100% biomass utilization in one of WNT’s PLTU. With the energy share recorded at 19%, we are keen to carry on with the target and also hope for decisive cooperation with relevant stakeholders, mainly the national government, state electricity company, and private sectors, in order to achieve NZE by 2050 in WNT.” said Nurhandini.

Participants and strategic stakeholders in one of the discussion sessions during the webinar which includes (from middle left, clockwise) Niken Arumdati, Secretary of Department of Energy and Mineral Resources of WNT Province; Wayan Budi Laksana, resource speaker from PLN of Tambora Regency; Nyoman S Rai, resource speaker from PLN of Lombok regency; Wayan Budi Laksana, resource speaker from PLN of Tambora Regency; Edi Wibowo, Director of Bioenergy at the Ministry Energy and Mineral Resources; and Widi Pancono, Commissioner at PT. Total Sinergy International.

Over 90 participants attended the webinar, including strategic stakeholders at the national level, the Directorate General of Renewable Energy, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), power providers and generator operators, PT PLN (state electricity company) and PT Indonesia Power, as well as a private energy company.

In one of the sessions, Nyoman S Rai, resource speaker from the PLN of Lombok Regency, explained that the roadmap for co-firing implementation has been developed since 2020 with the support from the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK). 

“Right now, we’ve been using sawdust as a biomass resource. We plan to use wood chips from Lamtoro and Calliandra trees next year and we hope that the percentage of biomass utilization will reach 10% by 2024.” said Nyoman.

Highlighting the national target, Edi Wibowo, the Director of Bioenergy at Ministry of ESDM, shared some of Indonesia’s achievements on its biomass cofiring implementation target. As of October 2022, there have been 33 power plant stations implemented with biomass cofiring, mitigating  461 thousand tons of CO2, and producing 465 GWh of green energy from 455 thousand tons of biomass. 

Edi Wibowo, the Director of Bioenergy at the Ministry Energy and Mineral Resources, shares Indonesia’s target and energy transition roadmap in one of the webinar sessions.

“We need penta-helix collaboration for the deployment of biomass in the energy sector. We hope that every collaboration can be synchronized between each party. It is also essential to provide up-to-date data to enable capacity building and knowledge-sharing in order to increase the awareness of energy transition with relevant stakeholders”

The national government of Indonesia, through the Directorate General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation ESDM, has determined 52 locations for co-firing PLTU trials throughout Indonesia. The Jeranjang PLTU in West Lombok Regency, WNT with a capacity of 3 x 25 MW is one of these sites. PT PLN of WNT Regional Unit has successfully conducted a co-firing technology trial at PLTU Jeranjang using biomass pellets (Refuse Derived Fuel or RDF) originating from municipal waste at the Kebon Kongkok final disposal site, with a mixture of 95% organic and 5% plastic waste.

The WNT Provincial Government supports the co-firing program initiated by PT PLN and sees it as an opportunity for the region to transition to a clean energy system and realize its NZE ambition.

Supporting the achievement of WNT’s net zero goal by 2050, ICLEI has been working with the Provincial Government since 2020 to implement the 100% Renewables Cities and Regions Roadmap (100% RE) program. This effort for reducing GHG emissions from the energy sector is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI).