PLN operates Asia's first CPO-fueled power plant

Alfian, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta   

State electricity company PT PLN fired up the engine of Asia Pacific's first crude palm oil (CPO) fueled power plant in Dumai, Riau, on Wednesday. 

"This is a pilot project. The power plant is operating, but it is still in the commissioning stage," PLN director Murtaqi Syamsuddin said. 

The power plant will be able to generate 10 megawatts (MW) of electricity. 

Murtaqii said the plant had to be fired up with diesel fuel in order for the engine to reach the required temperature before it could operate entirely on CPO. 

"The equipment converts crude palm oil to fuel," he said while adding that the conversion was done by an engine produced by Neue Maschinenbau Halberstadt GmbH (NMBH), a German-based biofuel engine producer. 

NMBH's director for Marketing and Sales, Franz J. Komischke, said that to convert CPO into fuel for a power plant the size of the one in Dumai would require an investment between Rp 22 billion (US$ 1.9 million) and Rp 29 billion. 

"The investment figure pretty much depends on how many engines a power plant has and the size of the engines," he said. 

According to Komischke, by replacing diesel fuel with CPO, the power plant's production costs could be reduced by 40 to 60 percent. 

Based on the current oil price level, the conversion of a 15MW power plant will reduce production costs by $4 million to $4.5 million per year, he said. 

About 1,500 tons of CPO is needed per year for a 10MW power plant, he added. 

The government issued a regulation last month mandating the use of biofuel by manufacturers, commercial business, fuel retailers and power plant operators.