Pre-feasibility Study of a Biomass Power Plant Project in Java

Indonesia | August 2017 - January 2018

In order to meet rising electricity demand, Indonesia has plans to increase its power generation capacity significantly in the coming years. Indonesia and Denmark are cooperating through an Environmental Support Programme (ESP), and the third phase ran from 2013 to 2017. The overarching objective of ESP3 is to support the Indonesian government in simultaneously achieving economic growth and improved environmental management. ESP3 looks to support the development of biomass for energy use and assist in improving local capacity in this respect.

Dispatchable renewable alternatives to balance solar and wind, such as geothermal and hydro, are assessed to be limited, but Indonesia is deemed to have significant untapped biomass resources, with roughly only 10% of estimated biomass resources currently being used for energy purposes.

Ea Energy Analyses carried out a pre-feasibility study for the development of a biomass power plant project by Perhutani (an Indonesian state-owned holding company in the forestry sector) in Java that will enable the company to produce its own fuel stock and generate electricity for sale to the national grid through an IPP arrangement. The study is expected to define the technical and financial feasibility of selected alternatives to enable Perhutani to select the most promising alternative.

The project was implemented in close cooperation with the Danish Embassy of Indonesia and ran from August to November 2017.