On 27 A
ugust the Indonesian Government, launched the development of its first bioethanol plant in Mojokerto, East Java. “It is our first molasses–based ethanol plant. The project will later run in other state-owned enterprises but with other crops, such as sorghum,” said State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, speaking at the groudbreaking ceremony of the project, which is owned by state-owned plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara.
The factory will have a production capacity of 30 million liters of bioethanol and is the result of a partnership between the Industry Ministry and the Japanese government via the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan. The project will cost Rp 461.21 billion (US$42.9 million). NEDO will cover Rp 150 billion while PT Perkebunan Nusantara will allocate Rp 311.21 billion from its internal budget.
The ethanol will be used by state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina for blending into Premium fuel, in compliance with the biofuel mandate introduced in a 2013 decree by the Director General of New and Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation.
