Government to Use Methane Gas for Electricity

Tempo Interactive, Thursday, 29 April, 2010 | 23:31 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The government will use coal bed methane for power plant needs.

In the initial stage, the government will build a plant of 23 MW by 2011.

Up until now, Indonesia is considered to have the largest potential for methane gas in the world, now reaching 453.30 trillion cubic feet (TCF).

“Especially in Central and South Sumatra and Kalimantan,” said the managing director and CEO of VICO Craig Stewart in Jakarta yesterday.

Coal bed methane is a fuel from natural gas dominated by methane gas with a small amount of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas in coal obtained through chemical and physical processes.

The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Darwin Zahedy Saleh, explained that coal bed methane use is in line with the national target of reducing dependency on conventional fuels, such as oil and gas.

“Especially considering that conventional fuel will not be able to fulfill market demand, especially after the peak of gas production in 2016,” said Darwin.

The government has made a map of coal bed methane use.

Next year it will become a coal bed methane project prototype for electricity plants.

In 2015, the coal bed methane production will be equal to gas, which is 500 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMSCFD) and it will be 1,000 million MMSCFD by 2020.

The Director General of Oil and Gas Evita Herawati Legowo added that coal bed methane supplies would be obtained from sources in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

The fields to be developed incude Pulang Pisau, Sangatha 1, Barito Banjar 1, Tanjung Enin and Sekayu.

Evita said that coal bed methane would be prioritized for electricity first.

“Next it could be used for LNG. This is our ambition,” she said.

RATNANING ASIH