ASIATODAY.ID, KOLAKA – Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia Arifin Tasrif together with the President Director of Bank Mandiri (Persero), Tbk, Darmawan Junaidi and the Director of Retail and Commerce of PT PLN (Persero), Edi Srimulyanti officially launched soft energize to the PT Ceria Nugraha Indotama nickel smelter which is sourced from PLN’s new renewable energy services.
This launch took place on Tuesday, July 2 2024, at the Central Mining Office of PT Ceria Nugraha Indotama in Wolo District, Kolaka Regency, Southeast Sulawesi which was witnessed directly by the CEO of Ceria Group, Derian Sakmiwata, President Director of PT Ceria, Abdul Haris Tatang, Chair of the Industrial Forum Indonesian Nickel Mining, Alexander Barus and Head of Wolo District, Ilham.
Ceria nickel smelter with rectangular Rotary Kiln Electric Furnace (RKEF) technology, which in the initial stage built 1 production line (1 x 72 MVA) to process saprolite nickel ore, and in the future four production lines (4 in stages with a production capacity of 252,700 tons per year.
“We are very proud to be able to support the electricity reliability of the PT Ceria Nugraha Indotama nickel smelter National Strategic Project (PSN). The clean energy service from PLN to the Ceria smelter will be gradual. “In the initial stage, the electricity will be supplied from the Bakaru Hydroelectric Power Plant (PLTA),” said Edi Sri Mulyanti.
She hopes that PT Ceria Nugraha Indotama’s breakthrough can inspire other smelter industries in Sulawesi to use electricity sourced from renewable energy.
Meanwhile, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif appreciates and fully supports PT Ceria Nugraha Indotama’s steps to use renewable energy throughout its industrial chain, sourced from PLN. Because, this breakthrough answers the need for global decarbonization steps and is in line with the government’s efforts to achieve Net Zero Emissions (NZE) 2060.
“Climate Change demands that we reduce all carbon emissions. PLN has provided clean energy. Furthermore, the development is expected to provide clean energy to customers, including industry. “The government is obliged to support this clean energy need,” said Minister Arifin.
Minister Arifin said that currently the Government is developing an ecosystem for clean electricity in the future.
“This is one of our nation’s capital. “Currently what is being planned is how we can supply electricity from energy that has lower carbon emissions. Among other things, we want to utilize natural gas, which we currently find has very promising potential,” he explained.
According to Minister Arifin, so far the smelters in Sulawesi still use coal energy sources which are estimated to reach approximately 20 giga watts and produce quite large carbon emissions.
“This will of course be a challenge for the smelter industry here. Why? Because now the world demands that industry produce green products using clean energy. European countries have encouraged the use of clean energy and have started to implement the Cross Border Carbon Mechanism. Some European countries have even implemented quite high carbon taxes, such as in Scandinavia, which is above US$100 per ton. “We have to anticipate this,” he added.
“We are grateful that Ceria Nugraha Indotama is the only one that can enter the standards of The New Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and this of course must be maintained for the development of further products. Because we see that these IRA regulations will make it easier for industrial products to be absorbed into the United States (US) market. Of course we have to anticipate. “How can our industry develop so that our dream of electrification can be achieved,” he explained.
The sources of electricity supply in the Ceria Group industry include; Ceria has an Electricity Sales and Purchase Agreement (PJBTL) with PT PLN (Persero) for 414 MVA (352 MW) of electricity from environmentally friendly power sources as regulated in the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Purchase. Ceria’s use of REC certificates will increase gradually starting from around 80,000 units in 2024 to 2.2 million units in 2030. Every 1 REC certificate unit represents 1 Megawatt-hour (MWh) of electrical energy consumption.
To maintain the reliability and stability of Ceria Group’s industrial electricity, PLN is also building a Mobile Barge Mounted Power Plant with a capacity of 2 x 60 MW (BMPP) equipped with an LNG Terminal and Regasification facilities at the Ceria location.
Apart from that, PLN, through its subsidiary PLN Batam, will soon build an Integrated Power Plant in the Ceria area, especially a Gas Power Plant (PLTMG) with a capacity of 200 MW. Future plans include adding a Combined Cycle Power Plant (PLTGU) with a capacity of 200 MW. (AT Network)
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