The Economic Price Of EBT Is Now Competing With Fossil Energy. Here's The Proof!

Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Dadan Kusdiana. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Dadan Kusdiana said the electricity price from the EBT plant is almost close to fossil-based electricity prices, some are even more efficient.

This positive development creates a balance of business competition between EBT and fossil energy.

That way, the government has a strong reason to make EBT a source of energy.

Advances in renewable energy technology, particularly in the solar power generation (PLTS) and wind (PLTB) sectors, have enabled higher efficiency, resulting in a lower reduction in production costs compared to fossil energy plants.

"Economically, PLTB Sidrap and PLTB Jeneponto in 2016, their electricity contracts were signed and approved by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, the price was 10.9 cents per kilo Watt hour (kWh). Now, there is a new PLTB contract in South Kalimantan in early 2023, the capacity is approximately 75 megawatts (MW). When compared to the price 6 to 7 years ago, now the figure is below 6 cents per kWh," said Dadan, Monday 18 December.

Dadan also compared the price of the EBT plant with the price of fossil energy-based power plants, such as coal (PLTU).

He even assessed that the price of green energy was even cheaper.

This shows that the power plant from EBT can be more comprehensive.

"The electricity price of the Citata PLTS (5.8 cents per kWh) is below 6 cents per kWh as well. If you want to just count, for example, the production of electricity from one kWh of coal needs about 0.7 to 0.8 kilos of coal. So, the fuel component can be directly calculated there. The figure must be more expensive than the previous one. Yes, is this EBT competitive? Now the tendency is there," continued Dadan.

With the reference coal price (HBA) ranging from 125-130 US dollars per ton, the electricity price from EBT can already compete with fossil-based electricity prices.

"With HBA currently ranging from around 130 US dollars per ton, this is already competitive. So, this EBT has now entered the economic scale. We can only head to head with fossils. So the narrative I want to build is now there is no longer any reason not to use EBT," concluded Dadan.