Indonesian independent power producer (IPP) Cikarang Listrindo will modify a second coal-fired circulating fluidised bed (CFB) boiler in Babelan to start blending biomass in the feedstock mix.
The utility placed an order for a biomass handling system in the fourth quarter of 2023, and the modification works are scheduled for the first quarter of 2025, technology supplier Valmet said in a press statement on Wednesday.
A first boiler at the 280MW plant received a biomass feeding system in 2021, allowing the plant to blend palm kernel shells (PKS) and wood chips to be co-fired as feedstock with coal.
The second boiler conversion will "allow up to 25pc of the [utility's] total coal consumption to be replaced by biomass", Cikarang Listrindo's head of environmental sustainability, Sami Sivola, said, adding that this would contribute towards the utility's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20pc by 2030.
Valmet will deliver the engineering, supply and construction of the new biomass fuel feeding system and the addition of a flue gas recirculation system for the CFB boiler unit 2, which has been rebuilt to generate up to 30pc of its output from wood chips and other "suitable biofuels", the Valmet statement said.
The Babelan power plant has used about 26,000t of biomass with the power generation equivalent of 39GWh since the conversion of the boiler in 2021, according to Cikarang Listrindo's 2023 investor presentation.
The conversion is in line with Indonesia's efforts towards decarbonisation. The energy ministry issued a regulation in November, which set a price cap on biomass sold to state-run utility PLN for power generation purposes. The biomass price was calculated based on a formula linked to the government-set HBA coal reference price. PLN nearly doubled biomass co-firing at of its co-fired coal plants in 2023.
Stronger PKS usage in the Indonesian domestic market may absorb more PKS that does not meet new sustainability requirements in Japan — the largest market for Indonesian PKS exports — that will become effective from 1 April. At least 10-20pc of the PKS-exported production in Indonesia is estimated to be ineligible for sustainability certification in the near future.
