Govt plans to convert waste into fuel, power in 30 big cities

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Yuliot Tanjung, said that the government is targeting to process waste into fuel and electricity in 30 big cities by 2029.

"We are targeting around 30 big cities. Each city can produce around 20 megawatts of electricity," he informed on Wednesday.

The products obtained from waste processing will not be limited to electricity but also include fuel oil, which will be produced using pyrolysis technology, he added.

According to him, waste can be converted into electricity and fuel oil through integrated waste processing with the help of technology.

"Organic materials can also produce bioenergy, whether biogas or biomass. This is what we are currently formulating," Tanjung informed.

Earlier, the Environment Ministry informed that the acceleration of waste utilization into energy is expected to support waste management efforts in regions, supported by new regulations regarding electrification.

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The government is currently unifying three presidential regulations related to waste management to support the utilization of waste to produce electrical energy through waste power plants (PLTSa). The regulations are:

Presidential Regulation Number 97 of 2017 concerning national policies and strategies for managing household waste and household-like waste;
Presidential Regulation Number 35 of 2018 concerning the acceleration of the development of waste processing installations into electrical energy based on environmentally friendly technology; and
Presidential Regulation Number 83 of 2018 concerning marine waste handling.

The scheme proposed in the regulation includes electricity costs from PLTSa of 19.20 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). This figure is higher than the electricity tariff set by PLN, which is 13.5 cents per kWh.

The difference is planned to be met with the help of subsidies provided by the Ministry of Finance.

On the same occasion, director general of new, renewable energy, and energy conservation at the ESDM Ministry, Eniya Listiani Dewi, said that the price and details are still under discussion.

The plan to utilize more than 1 thousand tons of waste per day is expected to provide benefits to PTLSa developers.

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