Japan's agency assists RI textile sector to conserve energy and water

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) has agreed to assist Indonesia with energy and water conservation in the textile sector.

Under an agreement signed Wednesday, NEDO will finance about 95 percent of a Rp 62.8 billion (US$6.69 million) pilot project to improve greater energy and water efficiency in the textile dyeing and finishing industry.

The remaining 5 percent will be provided by private firm PT Daliatex Kusuma, the company that will host the pilot project.

The NEDO assistance will be used to finance the designing, manufacturing and shipping of project requisites, as well as supervision, while Daliatex will be responsible for inland transportation, installation and utility costs.

"If this is applied to a textile dyeing and finishing plant with a capacity of 2,000 tons per year, electricity use can be reduced by 40 to 70 percent, fuel by 30 to 60 percent, water by 15 to 30 percent and chemicals by 15 to 30 percent," said Arryanto Sagala, director for textiles at the Industry Ministry.

Arryanto added that NEDO would transfer the ownership of the equipment after the expiry of the five-year project to the Indonesian government, which would then be required to disseminate information on the project so that other textile dyeing and finishing companies could replicate the pilot project.

According to NEDO, if companies in the dyeing/finishing sector adopted the technology, they would be able to cover their costs within four years.

If the project proves to be successful, the government would encourage other companies to adopt the technology by providing them with incentives, said the ministry's director general for metal, machine, textile and miscellaneous industries, Ansari Bukhari.

The incentives, he said, would take the form of import duty exemptions and tax reductions in accordance with Government Regulation No. 1/2007 on encouraging industrial energy efficiency.

"If possible, the project can be used as a model for the restructuring of the textile dyeing and finishing industry, which consumes a lot of water," he said.

Ade Sudrajat, vice president of the Indonesian Textile Manufacturers Association (API), welcomed the project and said the association would closely monitor whether the system would help Daliatex improve its competitiveness.

Ade said that companies that wanted to participate in the project could take out bank loans. (tif)