State oil and gas company Pertamina has started providing biodiesel with a 30 percent content of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) from palm oil, or B30, one month ahead of schedule, the company said on the weekend.
Pertamina VP Corporate Communication Fajriyah Usman was quoted in a Pertamina press release dated November 22, 2019 that the accelerated implementation of the B30 program for the transportation and industry sectors will carry a significant impact on Indonesia. The government had initially planned to make the provision of B30 mandatory on January 1, 2020.
“The accelerated implementation of the B30 will carry positive changes for various sectors. Be that from the national energy self-sufficiency to the multiplier effects on the plantation sector and its impact on the environment,” Fajriyah said.
She said that the use of FAME from palm oil as part of efforts to optimize the potentials of natural resources of Indonesia which is the world’s top palm oil producer. With a consistent absorption of FAME, a palm oil price stability could be ensured up to the grower’s level. sop that the positive impact would be felt up to the upstream sector of the palm oil industry. Biodiesel was also more environment-friendly and would have less impact on the environment.
Pertamina’s monthly absorption of FAME for the production of B20 by October 2019 averaged at around 460,000 KiloLiter (KL). The B30 program when fully implemented would increase monthly absorption to 690,000 KL or a total of around 8.3 million KL per year.
Fajriyah also said that both the diesel oil and the FAME were produced domestically.
“This is in line with the government’s effort to attain national energy self-sufficiency which would also impact other industry sectors,” she added.
Pertamina started mixing B30 at two of its fuel terminals — Rewulu in Yogyakarta and Boyolali in Central Java — on Thursday (21/11) and therefore B30 was now available at fuel stations supplied by the two terminals.
The process will continue up until December 2019 so that by January, B30 would be mixed at 28 locations from eight in December.
“The price of the biodiesel with B30 content will not be different from the previous price (for B20), so that people can buy it at the same price,” Fajriyah ascertained.