General Electric, PLN to Build Renewable Energy Plant in Sumba

Jakarta Globe, October 15, 2012

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General Electric and state utility firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara on Monday signed a Letter of Intent to cooperate in the development of a model renewable energy power plant in Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara.

Under the agreement, GE will provide expertise in the construction of a power plant on Sumba that will use Integrated Biomass Gasification technology, according to a GE statement.

The plant, which is expected to produce 1 megawatt of electricity, will use wood chips as fuel.

“PLN is certain that the technology and the experts from GE can play an important role in the development of an electricity plant using biomass in Indonesia,” PLN president director Nur Pamudji said after the signing.

He said success in Sumba would demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of expanding the nation's electricity grid to isolated regions using biomass fuels and could also become a model for similar power plants elsewhere.

“GE is committed in bringing the latest technology and solutions to help Indonesia overcome its challenges in developing the country,” GE Indonesian CEO Handry Satriago said.

East Java asked to increase renewable energy projects

Antara News, Tue, January 17 2012

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Surabaya, East Java (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) of East Java province has asked to local government to increase the number of renewable energy projects.

"East Java is reach in renewable energy resources among others bio-gas, geothermal, wind energy, water and solar energy," local Kadin deputy chairman for energy and mineral resources Nelson Sembiring said at Energy Efficiency Week for the Area of Surabaya on Tuesday.

According to Sembiring, East Java has wider opportunity to optimize renewable energy potential because the province has abundant sources of energy such as geothermal in Ijen and Ngebel, bio-gas in Gresik, Pacitan, and South Malang, and hydro energy that has been used for 10 years in Seloliman.

"From the quantity of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency can reach 7.8 percent or almost close to East Java energy saving target of 12 to 15 percent in 2025," Sembiring said.

He also expressed optimism that the province could reach the energy saving target if it developed as many as five units of micro-hydro project per year with the investment value of Rp30 million per unit.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

RI, China exploring cooperation on renewable energy

Antara News, Mon, December 12 2011

 Indonesia and China which had a big population were seeking to cooperate on renewable energy to anticipate the depletion of fossil energy resources.

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Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and China are exploring cooperation on the development of renewable energy, a cabinet minister said.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said here on Monday that Indonesia and China which had a big population were seeking to cooperate on renewable energy to anticipate the depletion of fossil energy resources.

"It is important for the two countries to develop renewable energy in the face of declining fossil energy resources. After all, China has relatively advanced technology on renewable energy, such as technology on the utilization of solar and hydro energy," the minister said.

The minister expressed his hope that the two countries would respectively set up a team to follow up on the results of a meeting between him and a Chinese delegation which was led by Cao Jialin, deputy technology minister at the Chinese Science and Technology Ministry.

Earlier, the forestry minister said that timber estate management and wood pellet product were two business sectors that were prospective for investors.

"Wood pellet as fuel is a renewable energy and environment friendly. This is because it involves a process of planting first and then utilizing it," the minister said.

At present, South Korea is encouraging the utilization of bio mass energy in the form of wood pellets in line with the shrinking of fossil fuel resources.

The problem is that the expansion of timber estate in South Korea faced land limitation problem.

The minister said that Indonesia needed to develop its bio mass energy because besides optimizing raw materials from timber estate the business also could absorb many workers.

Forestry Ministry Secretary General Hadi Daryanto said that there were three Korean investors who had been given permits by the ministry to develop timber estates and wood pellet factory with a production capacity of about 40,000 tons.

"The Korean investors needed large lands for their investment. The proposals that have been tabled cover 200,000 hectares and the ministry has approved 140,000 hectares with an investment of Rp6 trillion," he said.

Editor: Heru

W. Sumatra to build 5 geothermal power plants

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta,  Fri, 08/26/2011

West Sumatra administration has announced plans to construct five geothermal power plants in its 2011-2015 development plan.

The construction projects would be fully financed by the central government, West Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno said Friday in Padang.

Irwan added that his administration planned to build one power plant every year so that the five plants would be ready by 2015.

The administration also plans to build another 25 biomass power plants that will utilize urban and rural waste for energy production.

Irwan said his administration planned to build the five biomass power plants gradually. The construction of these plants would also rely on funding from the central government, he said.

Meanwhile, the administration also plans to develop 3,000 small-sized solar plants and 10 micro-hydro power plants using funding from the state budget, over the same development period.

City Administration to Turn Trash Into Power at Three New Facilities

Jakarta Globe, Dofa Fasila | August 11, 2011

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The Jakarta administration is planning to build three treatment centers that will use waste to generate energy, Governor Fauzi Bowo said on Wednesday.

“What we want is to turn waste to energy, and this process has already begun,” Fauzi said.

The Cakung Cilincing intermediate treatment facility in North Jakarta, which began operating on Aug. 1., uses mechanical and biological technology to recycle inorganic waste and to ferment organic waste to produce gas that can be used as fuel. After processing, the waste is then sent to a landfill.

The treatment center will be able to process 400 tons of waste daily until the end of the year and 600 tons daily from January. It will reach its full capacity of 1,300 tons in July next year, he said.

When running at full capacity, the Cakung Cilincing ITF will be able to produce 4.95 megawatts of electricity, or 445,669 million metric British thermal units of gas fuel.

Fauzi said that the two other intermediate treatment facilities, would be built in Sunter and Marunda, both in North Jakarta, before the end of the year.

The existing Sunter waste facility, which sits on five hectares of land, will be upgraded into an ITF, Fauzi said.

“We are going to enhance the technology at the Sunter processing station into an ITF,” Fauzi said. “The city sanitation office will cooperate with private sector companies interested in investing.”

The Sunter ITF, Fauzi said, would use technology based on an incinerator that would be capable of reducing the volume of waste by 90 percent, producing a large amount of electricity and significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Eko Bharuna, head of the Jakarta Sanitation Office, said the Sunter project would be tendered in September.

“We are involving the private sector under a build, own, operate and transfer arrangement,” Eko said. “We have chosen this option so as not to burden the regional budget.”

“Besides building the various intermediate waste processing facilities that are capable of handling large amounts of waste, the city administration will also develop reuse, reduce, and recycle centers [Sentra 3R] in Jakarta’s five municipalities,” Fauzi said.

“In the future, all regional developers will have to build their own waste processing facilities,” he added.

He said that several developers, including Pantai Indah Kapuk, had already agreed to build 3R centers in their estates. Pantai Kapuk Indah’s 3R center would use integrated dry anaerobic digestion and composting technology and would be built in cooperation with a private investor and the Tsu Chi Buddhist Foundation, he said.

“The waste at PIK will be processed into electricity and compost,” Fauzi said. “The main difference with the ITF is that the 3R center will have a much smaller capacity, of around 250 tons.”

Another 3R center planned for Pesanggrahan, South Jakarta, will be built with the assistance of the Public Works Office’s environmental sanitation unit, he said.

Fauzi added that the city administration would not go ahead with a plan to build an integrated waste processing plant in Ciangir, in Legok district, Tangerang. The decision came after Tangerang authorities zoned the Ciangir area for residential purposes.

The city had purchased an area of 96 hectares in Ciangir and an environmental impact study was conducted in 1999.

Fauzi said that while the Tangerang administration had proposed a land swap, suggesting an area in Jatiwangi, closer to Jakarta, the city authorities preferred to develop the Ciangir land into residential estate in line with the new zoning requirements.

With the Ciangir ITF center scrapped, he said, the city would now have to rely on the three planned ITFs.

“With these three ITFs and the Bantar Gebang landfill, Jakarta’s waste problem will be solved for the next decade, as their cumulative processing capacity will be more than 8,000 tons per day,” he said.

Korea grants 2.5 Million dollars for waste processing

Antara News, Wednesday, September 1, 2010 01:29 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The South Korea government has provided a grant worth 2.5 million US dollars, the equivalent of Rp22.65 billion, to the Bandung Institute of Technology for building a project for the disposal of waste from oil palm processing industries and from the production of bioenergy and biofertilizers in Kampur regency, Riau province.

The grant was signed by representatives of the Korean International Cooperation Agency, the South Korean government, and the Higher Education Director General, in Jakarta Tuesday.

Higher Education Director General Djoko Santoso said that Indonesia as palm oil producer also produced a great deal of palm oil waste material.

"Therefore it would be necessary to turn the palm oil waste material into useful material. The idea has received the support of the South Korean government which had provided the grant to the Bandung Institute of Technology and the polytechnic in Kampar, Riau province, where the project would be built, because the regency has many oil palm plantations, and the experts from the Bandung Institute of Technology cooperate with the Polytechnic in Kampar," he said.

"Kampar will later also become bioenergy and biofertilizer research center for development from waste material from the oil industry," said Djoko, who is former rector of the Bandung Institute of Technology.

The project covers the construction of a facility to handle waste material from the palm oil factory with the production of bioenergy products and biofertilizers, the sending of Korean experts to Indonesia as project consultants, and the sending of Indonesian technicians to Korea for technological training for work in the project.

The project is expected to increase the competitiveness of palm oil by way of the recycling biomass waste material, as well as reducing pollution and CO2 emissions by handling the waste water from the oil palm industry.(

Experts say biomass is feasible alternative

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 08/06/2010 9:14 PM

Amid an energy crisis and environmental campaigns to phase out the use of fossil fuels, experts agreed Friday that biomass was a suitable and feasible alternative energy source for Indonesia.

Satya Wacana Christian University biomolecular expert Ferry F. Kawur said Indonesia, with its unique tropical climate, was a fertile ground for productive plants that could be a source of environmentally friendly biomass, as reported by Antara.

Biomass sources includes living plants, dead woods and waste.

Ferry was speaking during a launch of a book titled Biomass for Alternative Energy, written by Gan Thay Kong.

Physics professor at Satya Wacana Liek Wilardjo said that people should reduce their energy consumption and also look into the possibilities of developing biomass.

Some environmentalists have supported biomass generated from waste but others oppose biomass generated from palm oil plantations, which they claim destroy primary forests in Indonesia.

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Time for Indonesia to accelerate use of renewable energy

Antara News, By Eliswan Azly, Monday, July 26, 2010 21:52 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is at a crossroad. With the impressive rate of its economic growth which leads to a dramatic increase in energy consumption and in an effort to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, this archipelagic country has to find renewable energy that would may help reduce reliance on carbon-fueled energy.

It is for that purpose that the Energy Care Society (MPE) on Sunday urged the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) to encourage the use of renewable energy as an alternative to fossil fuel.

"The government and the DPR need to issue a regulation to lay a firm basis to change the market domination of fossil fuel by encouraging the public to use more renewable energy," MPE Chairman Abdul Kadir said.

According to him, the regulation must contain clauses requiring companies operating under contracts of work in the oil and gas mining sector to help meet power demand using renewable energy such as solar energy under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.

The companies` participation in the fulfillment of power demand using alternative energy was badly needed to solve power shortages as well as to preserve the environment, he said adding that hopefully this will help accelerate the use of renewable energy in this country.

"It is regrettable that people in oil- and mineral-rich regions have difficult access to electricity. This must draw all of our attention," he said.

He said a number of companies such as state electricity company PLN, state oil company Pertamina, Antam and Freeport had started building solar and micro hydro power plants to meet power demands, however, the power plants are still of low capacity.

"This must become a common movement including the involvement of the extractive industry to think of a solution by providing CSR programs," he said.

He said the MPE had discussed the matter with extractive industries at a seminar in Bandung, West Java, on July 22-23.

In addition, Indonesia could also develop solar power plants which would help it overcome future energy crises, Jacobus Purwono, the director general of electricity, said.

Indonesia recently announced its plan to build 250 solar power plants with a total capacity of 2.2 MW by 2014 to supply the country`s rural areas with electricity. The proposed project is expected to cost around US$84 million.

"The electricity produced by the plants will benefit 150,000 to 200,000 households in different parts of the country," he said.

Indonesia`s announcement comes on the heels of Japan`s $400 million loan to help the country deal with global warming. The proposed solar plants are part of Indonesia`s alternative energy plan, which outlines the installation of solar panels at 192,000 homes, building 570 small-scale hydro-electric plants and the construction of 270 wind plants.

According to Jacobus, the Indonesian government looked forward to the solar project as part of their alternative energy plan since it will power villages while at the same time reducing their CO2 emissions.

Businessgreen.com also reported that the Indonesian government`s statistics showed that only 65% of Indonesia`s 240 million people had access to electricity. Because the large population was distributed in over 17,000 islands, some of the villages, especially in the easternmost regions, were not connected to the National Grid. With the new solar projects, the government hoped to connect more people to electrical supply sources.

As a matter of fact, Indonesia has the world`s largest geothermal power potential, and the plan allocates extensive co-financing to expand large-scale geothermal electricity generation, Katherine Sierra, vice president for sustainable development at the Work Bank, said earlier.

Indonesia could accelerate initiatives to promote energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources by creating risk-sharing facilities and addressing financing barriers to small- and medium-scale investments.

The low-carbon growth investments in Indonesia are an example of similar programs now approved to receive Climate Investment Funds (CTF) financing in Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Taken together, these programs will demonstrate how future energy demands can be satisfied in ways that will not generate excessive levels of greenhouse gases.

"From our vantage point as multilateral development bank partners in helping countries implement these CTF-funded plans, this bold action on the part of Indonesia and other Asian nations is a harbinger of a fundamental shift in climate action around the globe," she said.

And the same sorts of actions are moving forward in developing countries in every region of the world. While developing countries have not been the primary source of climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions from the past burning of fossil fuels, "they are taking positive actions to help achieve a global solution to the common challenge posed by climate change," she said.

This climate-smart approach offers lessons which all, including those in developed countries, can look to emulate in coming years.

The CTF is founded on partnerships between policymakers, indigenous peoples, private sector entities, civil society and others, she said.

More important to help the country arrive at the targeted use of alternative energy is the granting of such incentive to boost investment in renewable energy such as geothermal, solar and biofuel, in an effort to cut reliance on fossil fuels.

Harry Z Soeratin, a spokesman of the finance ministry said in a statement, his office had issued a decree which granted a 5 percent tax cut over six years for renewable energy producers as well as exemptions from value-added tax and import duties on equipment. Another provision allowed investors to use accelerated depreciation and amortization on assets to reduce taxable income.

The incentive is offered to investors as the government aimed to reduce dependency on non-renewable energy and to ensure availability of sustainable energy sources by attracting investment.

In response to offered incentives, Paulus Tjakrawan, secretary general of the Indonesian Bio-fuel Producers Association (Aprobi), gave his applause and said Indonesia had joined the rest of the world by applying regulations to develop renewable energy. The government was heading in the right direction.

Paulus said the incentives would cut bio-fuel production costs, making it more affordable.

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India Invests in Parigi Muotong Power Plant

Tempo Interactive, Tuesday, 06 April, 2010 | 18:14 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Parigi: Indian investors will expend Rp 120 billion for the construction of an agricultural waste-generated power plant in Parigi Moutong regency, Central Sulawesi. The power plant will have a capacity of producing 10 megawatt electrical power.

A meeting was held on this subject between Parigi Moutong Longki Djanggola and members of the India-Indonesia Friendship Association secretary-general, Dr Gurumukti Nataraja last week.

Rustam Pantalu as the facilitator of the meeting said the Parigi Moutong regency government will get 12 percent of shares from the power plant construction.

Meanwhile, the investors will get 80 percent of the shares. The rest will be given to the local companies. Rustam also said the assets owned by the Parigi Moutong regency government are in the form of lands and streets.

DARLIS MUHAMMAD

Garbage-gas-fueled power project to begin producing early 2010

Antara News, Tuesday, November 24, 2009 05:33 WIB

Two workers is packaging organic fertilizer made from garbage at the Cilowong dump in Serang, Banten. (ANTARA/Asep Fathulrahman)Bekasi (ANTARA News) - A project using gas emanating from garbage to produce electricity at the Bantar Gebang waste dump in Bekasi is expected to become operational with a capacity of 500 KVA in early 2010, a local environmental official said.

"We are now only waiting for the completion of cell number four to provide waste-fueled electricity, It is estimated that in early 2010, the 500 KVA of electricity can be produced from garbage," said the head of Bekasi`s Environment Management Agency, Dudy Setiabudhi, here Monday.

The project was now already producing 120 KVA of electric power half of which was distributed to residents around the dump and the other half used by the company implementing the project, PT Gikoko Kogyo of Japan.

Dudy said, previously, the garbage at the Bantar Gebang dump was processed into compost but now it was being used to produce electricity.

Garbage at the dump produces methane gas which is one of the substances contributing to global warming because it damages the earth`s ozone layers. But the methane gas from garbage at Bantar Gebang was now being used to produce electricity.

By virtue of the electricity production project at Bantar Gebang which was helping to reduce global warming, the Bekasi municipal government would be entitled to receive carbon credit funds from the United Nations, he said.

"Gikoko Kogyo will receive 83 percent and the Bekasi municipal government 17 percent of the UN carbon credit funds but the funds will be disbursed after a verification process and fulfilment of certain administrative procedures," he said.

UK eyes investment in renewable energy, power

Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 11/05/2009 10:31 AM

British companies are interested in investing in the renewable energy and electricity sectors here, Lord Davies of Abersoch, UK Minister for Trade, Investment and Small Business, said during his visit on Wednesday.

As one of the world’s leaders in renewable energy businesses, Lord Davies said British companies would want to expand here seeing the country had managed to cope fairly well with the global economic crisis.

“The minister of energy is very keen on that. And we discussed with him a range of ideas of how we can get more partnership between British and Indonesian companies on renewable energy,” he told reporters after meeting Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Z. Saleh.

Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s director general for electricity and use of energy J. Purwono pointed to British firm International Power Plc. which has shown interests in a 2x1,000 MW power plant project in Central Java.

“They want to become an IPP [independent power producer] for the 2x1,000 MW project in Central Java,” Purwono said.

As for renewable energy projects, he replied: “We are looking at locations to develop biomass and wind power, among others.”

The UK minister also met Industry Minister MS Hidayat and Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu to discuss increasing bilateral trade between the two countries. Lord Davies said he would invite Indonesian businesspeople to the UK to look for potential partners.

“We agree that we need a symposium on energy and the financing on infrastructure. And we also agree to work with the trade minister where we see examples of protectionism and market access problems,” he said.

Aside from energy and the power sector, British companies are interested in other sectors like life sciences, IT and retails, he said.

In the next few months Lord Davies plans to invite British companies including Royal Dutch Shell plc., BP plc., International Powerplc., Rolls-Royce Group plc. and Star Energy UK Onshore Ltd. to meet Indonesian ministers.

“The challenge for Indonesia is to simplify the regulations, cut the bureaucracy, and move with great speed on energy security, and inward investment,” he said.

According to UK Trade and Investment data, the UK exported about 391 million poundsterlings of goods last year to Indonesia, a 36 percent increase from 2007.

Exports between January and April this year reached 100 million poundsterlings.

The UK imported 1.14 billion poundsterlings of goods in 2008, a slight increase from almost 1 billion pounds sterling a year earlier. Between January and April this year it imported 435 million poundsterlings of goods.

“When you look around Asia … Asia is a collection of different countries with different stages of economic growth. Indonesia is a very exciting opportunity, it will become a key part of the global economy. It’s maturing, it’s growing and it is a very important trading nation now,” said Lord Davies.

Lord Davies plans to invite British companies to meet Indonesian ministers.

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Palembang set to process waste to fix power crisis

Khairul Saleh, THE JAKARTA POST, PALEMBANG | Sat, 01/17/2009 5:24 PM  

The Palembang municipality in South Sumatra is planning to build a garbage-based power generating station in an effort to address waste management issues as well as the chronic power crisis in the city, a senior official said recently. 

The assistant to the City Secretary on planning and economic affairs, Apriadi S. Busri, said the project expected to address power shortages in Palembang. 

He said the station would be located at major landfill dumping sites in Kramasan, Kertapati, or Sukawinatan in Sukarami district, as the project required such huge volumes of garbage to operate. 

"Waste management will apply three methods reuse, reduce and recycle by sorting organic and nonorganic waste," he said. 

Besides processing garbage into fertilizer and methane gas to feed the power plant, the planned landfill areas have been set aside as future recreation areas, provided the recycling and sanitation processes operate smoothly. 

"A special drainage system will be built at the Kramasan landfill so that garbage can be deposited underground and processed into methane to then generate electricity," said Apriadi. 

The central government has provided Rp 5 billion (US$453,000) in funding for the project and also for a waste water processing plant. 

The municipality has appointed Japanese consortium PT Gikoko Kogyo Indonesia to produce methane at the Sukawinatan landfill. 

"We have signed a working contract with PT Gikoko. They are now waiting for their equipment to arrive so production can begin," said Apriadi. 

Palembang City Sanitation Agency head Zulfikri Simin said power generation from waste was feasible, provided there was a minimum supply of 500 tons of garbage per day, the equivalent of generating 2 megawatts of power. 

However, the municipality has been hampered by the limited number of garbage trucks in the area and the lack of overall transportation capacity. Sanitary workers can only transport between 3,000 and 5,000 cubic meters of garbage to the Sukawitan and Karya Jaya landfills per day. 

Zulfikri said PT Gikoko had been somewhat slow in beginning the process of converting waste to methane gas, considering operations were supposed to have started at the end of last year. 

The company is currently carrying out excavation work at landfills, collecting waste which will then be processed into methane.

Waste-Generated Power Plant Begins December

Friday, 14 November, 2008 | 21:19 WIB 

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The selection of investors bidding for a waste technology management project at Bantar Gebang disposal site will be determined next week after the Jakarta administration completes its paperwork next week. Selected investors will manage a waste-generated power plant worth of 900 billion for the next 15 years. The project is due to begin this December. 

According to Jakarta Sanitation Service chief Eko Bharuna, three investors have been selected out of a total 23 companies joining the tender. "We have the winner and the decosopm will be issued next week so they can start working," Eko said yesterday. 

The three companies still being processed are PT Godang Tua Jaya, Total Strategic Investment, and PT Patriot Bangkit Bekasi consortiums. The three consortiums are expected to obtain funding from foreign companies. 

Eko stressed that the winner of the tender will be assessed by their technological capabilities and their sources of funding. Additionally, transportation costs must be in line with the government's regulation, which is Rp 103.000 per ton of waste. "All three companies offer electrical management technology. Technically, they are different, but the output is the same," Eko said. 

In Bekasi, the local administration is cooperating with the Public Works Department to turn waste from Sumur Batu into organic fertilizers and coal briquettes. The total investment project is Rp 1,7 billion. 

The management of waste using bio-fermentation technology began yesterday. The production capacity is 25 tons of waste per day, dividing 15 tons of waste to be produced as organic waste and 10 tons as coal briquettes. 

Susmono, director-general for Environment Rehabilitation and Settlement Development said turning waste into useful materials is a way to reduce the amount of open dumping garbage in Sumur Batu, Bekasi. In a day, 1.200 tons of garbage are dumped on the site. "It is processed until the piles of garbage are gone," Susmono said. 

Bekasi mayor Mochtar Mohamad is optimistic that the bio-fermentation technology will be the biggest contributor of revenues in the region. "This will be a continuous project," he said. 

FERY FIRMANSYAH|HAMLUDDIN

Russians to build biomass power plant

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar | Mon, 11/10/2008 11:15 AM  

The South Sulawesi provincial administration in cooperation with a Russian company JSC PromSviaz Automatika will build a biomass powerplant in South Sulawesi expected to produce between 20 to 100 MW of electricity. 

JSC PromSviaz Automatika's general director Vladimir Khusainov said the powerplant would use rice rice husks and straw as fuel. 

Khusainov, who met South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo here, said his company was interested to invest in the power sector in South Sulawesi as the province had good potential to provide a high volume of rice husks and straw. 

"We observe the quantity of straw and husks in South Sulawesi is abundant and of good quality," he said. 

"So there is good potential for this waste to be used as power plant fuel." 

Khusainov also said that the biomass powerplant would be cheaper to run than powerplants using other fuels such as coal or diesel. 

"Biomass is environmentally friendly because it uses waste materials as fuel," he said. 

"The ash from burning husks and straw can even be sold to the cement and crude oil industries." 

The Russian firm will cooperate with South Sulawesi Provincial Enterprise. 

The provincial enterprise director, Harris Hody, said electricity from a biomass powerplant would be more competitive as the fuel was cheaper. 

The enterprise would also cooperate with Tiara Energy and a Russian consultant, Bantry Corporation, to conduct feasibility studies to determine how much rice husk and rice straw would be needed and where the powerplant would be built. 

Khusainov disclosed that 1 million tons of rice husks could produce 100 MW of electricity, while 5 million tons of rice straw could produce 400 MW. 

"We will decide the powerplant capacity after we conduct the feasibility study," he said. 

"But it will be somewhere between 20 and 100 MW." 

Governor Syahrul hoped that the project could soon be built to help the province overcome the power crisis. There is a deficit of 50 to 80 MW with some 60,000 would-be customers queueing to get electricity. 

"There is no need to conduct research because the provincial agricultural services and other agencies have conducted such research. Just ask them for the results," he said. 

"We will prioritize the project because it also benefits the farmers in addition to generating electricity." 

Syahrul also guaranteed a steady supply of rice husks and rice straw as the province produces five to six million tons of rice every year. 

In response to Syahrul's request, Khusainov promised to speed up the feasibility study from nine to six months and construct the powerplant soon so it could become operational next year. 

Although supporting the projet, however, Syahrul had yet to sign a MoU, saying he would study its contents. 

The governor also said that the form of cooperation between the Russian firm and the South Sulawesi enterprise and its profit-sharing scheme was not yet clear. 

Meanwhile, President of Bantry Corporation, Vasily Tsarev, said the company was also constructing a number of biomass powerplants on Java Island and in North Sumatra province. 

JSC PromSviaz Automatika and the Serdang Bedagai regency administration signed an MoU in October to build a 10 MW powerplant, which can be increased to 20 MW.