Pekanbaru, Riau - State-owned plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) V commissioned a one-megawatt biogas power plant in Tandun, Kampar district, Riau province, Monday.
"With this biogas power plant, we will begin to reduce dependence on diesel oil fuel for operating the plant," the Director of PTPN V Fauzi Yusuf said.
The biogas power plant uses waste oil from palm oil mills of PTPN V in Tandun, he said adding that gradually the diesel oil used by PTPN V for palm oil mills will be replaced by biogas.
"With this biogas-powered plant we could save about 6,000 liters of diesel oil fuel cost per day or equivalent to Rp5 billion," Fauzi said.
According to him, the biogas plant powered from palm oil waste was the first in Indonesia. The plants will continue to be developed along with the increasing production of palm oil mills processing every year.
"In the last year our palm oil mills in Tandun was able to process oil as much as 45 tons per hour. It is expected that in 2012 this mount will increase to 60 tons. Thus, the waste will also increase and will automatically increase the production of biogas for electricity generation," he Fauzi explained.
He said PTPN V is holding Karya Mas Energi (KME) as the investir for the construction of the biogas power plant.
The contract between KME and PTPN V will be valid for 10 years and thereafter the ownership will be fully held by the state-owned company.
During the cooperation PTPN V will buy electricity from biogas-powered generator for Rp889 per Kwh or cheaper than the price of industrial oil fuel, Fauzi noted.
"This energy will we use to replace our diesel oil fuel and if it continues to evolve we will use for the electricity needs of the people in the vicinity of the factory," he said.
Meanwhile the Kampar regent Jefri Nor welcomed the inauguration of the biogas-powered generator because it would reduce pollution.
In fact the local administration is also planning to adopt the biogas-powered electricity generation in Kampar by processing the cow manure waste as the oil fuel source, he added.
"I will make a special area for biogas in Kampar with providing cows to each resident hence the waste can be processed for electricity for cooking for the local people," Jefri said.
He hoped PTPN V could contribute in particular to the local people around the company area its work in providing electricity.
