JAKARTA - BPI Danantara Chief Executive Officer, Rosan Roeslani, has confirmed that the plan for the coal downstream project into Dimethyl Ether (DME) as an LPG substitute is scheduled to begin construction in February 2026.
Currently, continued Rosan, his party is finalizing the selection of coal processing technology into LPG or DME.
"If I'm not mistaken it's February (Groundbreaking). If the technology is analyzed by our Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Sigit. So we just want to meet today," he told reporters in Jakarta, Wednesday, January 14.
For information, based on data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, it is projected that LPG consumption in 2026 will still be around 10 million metric tons. With a wide supply deficit gap, coal downstreaming is the key to freeing Indonesia from the burden of imports.
Therefore, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Bahlil Lahadalia, said the DME project was quite important considering that Indonesia is still very dependent on LPG imports.
Bahlil also admitted that building an LPG plant in the country was not easy. Because, LPG requires gas raw materials that have a mixture of Propane (C3) and Butane (C4), while the national gas reserves are dominated by C1 and C2.
"While our gas is more in C1, C2, there must be an import substitution. The way is to use low-calorie coal for DME. It can be used to replace LPG," said Bahlil.
Previously, Bahlil revealed that the location of the coal to dimethyl ether (DME) downstream project would be decided in December 2025.
He said, a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto and Danantara CEO, Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, had also been held to discuss the location of the construction of this gasification project.
"Yesterday I met with the President and Mr. Rosan, in December the locations will be decided," said Bahlil, quoted Wednesday, November 12.
According to Bahlil, if the location has been determined by the end of this year, then the construction of the DME project will begin in 2026.
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