PLN And Cilegon City Government Build Biomass Plants That Turn Waste Into Co-Firing Materials

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

PT PLN (Persero) through PT PLN Indonesia Power cooperates with the City Government (Pemkot) of Cilegon to inaugurate the operation of the largest solid-jumping Fuel Plant (BBJP) in Indonesia located at the Bagendung Final Waste Disposal Site (TPSA), Cilegon, Banten.

This BBJP factory will absorb 30 tons of fresh city waste every day to be processed into fuel to replace coal (co-firing) at the Suralaya steam power plant (PLTU).

PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo said, through this collaboration PLN helps the Cilegon City Government reduce city waste and the BBJP factory will build a populist economy because it is operated directly by Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMD) so as to provide added value through absorption of local workers.

"We are very proud of the dense jumputan fuel in Cilegon. This is fuel based on the power of the people. Here the people who work here and are empowered, so this creates jobs," Darmawan told the media, Tuesday, November 29.

Darmawan revealed that the waste utilization program into energy in Cilegon is the largest and is able to reduce waste piles by 30 tons per day or 9,000 tons per year.

Meanwhile, for PLN, the presence of this BBJP factory helps the company get certainty about the supply of biomass for co-firing raw materials and can save production costs because it can produce biomass independently.

"Here, which was processed for only 1.5 tons per day, was increased to 30 tons per day. And this really helps how the TPSA Bagendung can be managed to be even cleaner. This can also increase energy security and can also reduce greenhouse gas emissions to solve global warming," continued Darmawan.

President Director of PLN Indonesia Power, Edwin Nugraha Putra, said that PLN Indonesia Power has been conducting research related to processing waste into fuel since 2018.

Later, BBJP will be used as a co-firing at the PLTU, in other words, the waste at TPSA Bagendung will be processed into coal substitution biomass as fuel at the PLTU.

"In the future, the BBJP Bagendung installation will continue to be developed into a capacity of 300 tons per day and PLTU Suralaya as the buyer. This factory is construction with a Domestic Component Level (TKDN) of 60 percent," said Edwin.

Mayor of Cilegon Helldy Agustian welcomed the collaboration of waste management into biomass fuel for electricity. This is in line with the Cilegon City Government's commitment to utilizing waste into something useful for the community.

"First, this waste problem is a national problem. One of the creative ideas from Cilegon City is in accordance with Presidential Decree 35 of 2018, actually President Joko Widodo has appointed 12 regencies and cities throughout Indonesia in order to turn waste into green energy. We will arrest this opportunity," said Helldy.

The existence of BBJP TPSA Bagendung has a big impact not only on the environment but also on the economy of Cilegon City.

Because, the existence of BBJP TPSA Bagendung can improve the economy and absorb local workers.

Therefore, Helldy hopes that BBJP TPSA Bagendung can be a pilot not only in regencies/cities in Banten Province but also throughout Indonesia. The Cilegon City Government is ready to help other regions to encourage the use of clean energy through waste management.

"This means that this is the pioneer of all regions in Indonesia that Cilegon is the first city and this was inaugurated directly by the President Director of PLN," said the Mayor of Cilegon.