Minister Of Energy And Mineral Resources Inaugurates Dual Fuel Ship Prototype Operation, Saves IDR 12 Million Per Day

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif (photo: dock. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif together with Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi inaugurated the operation of the Prototype Diesel Dual Fuel (DDF) Crewboat owned by PT. Pertamina Hulu Mahakam (PHM). The inauguration was carried out at Somber Port Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Monday 12 August.

"With the inauguration of the DDF Crewboat prototype, this is one clear proof of the active participation of Indonesian oil and gas companies (oil and gas) that can provide significant benefits for PHM and the general public," said Arifin in an official statement, Tuesday, August 13.

The current world, explained Arifin, is moving towards green energy. This includes the transportation sector, where the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has also formulated the use of environmentally friendly transportation fuel with low and zero carbon.

"So this crewboat initiative is for hybrid, this diesel dual fuel system should be appreciated, of course, through one study with mature calculations so that it can be carried out properly so that it can reduce fuel emissions and efficiency," he explained.

Arifin hopes that this DDF ship modification initiative can be implemented immediately on other ships, because it has a very large level of efficiency, reaching 80 percent per one ship that has been modified into DDF.

"This is only 2024, trial for a year is good. Then it can expand to other ships. If there are more, later from this result we will review, what things can indeed be made initiatives and motivations from ship entrepreneurs. If it has economic value, good investment. They can invest again until they make modifications," explained the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources.

General Manager of PHM, Setyo Sapto Edi said that the DDF ship technology is part of the transportation efficiency carried out by PHM. If using diesel-based ships will consume 1,500 liters of fuel a day, and using DDF, diesel fuel is only about 40 percent and the remaining 60 percent of LNG.

"The efficiency we get from the crewboot is that if we estimate it with 1 day 1,500 liters, then use 1 day 30 MMBTU LNG, the efficiency is around Rp. 12 million per day," he concluded.

For information, the DDF Crewboat is a ship with a modified diesel engine so that the engine can run with a mixture of diesel fuel and natural gas. This technology does not completely eliminate the use of diesel fuel, but will reduce diesel utilization. LNG cylinders will be placed on the fuel tank compartment.

From the results of the PHM study, the potential optimization of the use of DDF will reduce the use of diesel fuel by around 6,050 Kiloliters per year for 10 crewboats operating offshore WK Mahakam, and potentially reduce operating costs by 4.1 million US dollars per year.