Palm Oil Biomass as Electricity Source for Rural Indonesia

BIOMASS power plant project has been a long time work in progress. The project is moving very slowly and facing many obstacles. On the other hand, Indonesia has many biomass waste from palm oil industries that can be used as material to the power plant.

Empty fruit bunch, shell, and fiber are oil palm biomass waste that can be converted to energy by cogeneration system. The abundance of these biomass resources is increasing with the fast development of palm oil industries. Such oil palm waste are easily collected from 190 regency in Indonesia.

The energy generated may fulfill the electrical needs of 4,5 million houses, or as much as 4,336 MW. But the biggest obstacle yet is getting the money to activate the project. The government has many options, in fact, and utilizing the Energy Security Fund that is now being prepared. Since the end of 2015, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is devising what is called the Energy Security Fund.

The fund is gathered for energy security purposes from each premium fuel and diesel fuel being consumed. As much as Rp 200/liter of premium fuel and Rp 300/liter of diesel fuel consumed are collected for the fund. The money gathered can be invested in developing and providing renewable energy sources, such as the biomass power plant project.

This power plant can be directly integrated with rural palm oil mill and if succesfully done so, building a sustainable, emission and foreign exchange-scant, and rural-based renewable energy source may not be a mere hope, after all. Biomass and the biomass power plant becomes cheaper energy sources holding a big potential and beneficial to the people living in rural areas. If the project proves to be succesfull, the electrical needs in rural areas that are still scant may be resolved quickly. ***