Jakarta, Sept 14 (Antara) - The Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), is expected to cooperate with Singapore to develop infrastructure facilities to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The cooperation to build gas infrastructure, which will be used to supply LNG to power plants in remote areas of Indonesia, is a deal to develop facilities and to not import gas from Singapore as had been wrongly reported recently.
According to Coordinating Minister for the Ministry of Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the gas will be channeled through facilities that can be moved to destination locations with a floating terminal, which is equipped to accommodate LNG and convert it into gas, also termed as regasification, or commonly called Floating Storage and Regasification Unit.
Pandjaitan noted that Singapore has offered to develop the LNG infrastructure facility for supplying gas to power plants in remote areas around Sumatra and Gorontalo in Sulawesi.
"They will have investments there, as they have built it," he added.
The supply capacity of the facilities to be built under the cooperation is estimated to reach 500 megawatts (MW), as it is reserved for remote areas.
"In total, it will be almost 500 MW. However, it will be supplied in small volumes for the islands. They can be 25 MW, 50 MW, and 100 MW in Gorontalo," he remarked.
The offer from Singapore is a follow-up effort to intensify energy cooperation between the two countries proposed in late April.
In the meantime, ESDM Minister Ignasius Jonan rebutted the reports on the import of LNG from Singapore.
"I think the news is not right. Singapore offers mini LNG tankers to channel our LNG to be used in power plants in the western Indonesian archipelago," Jonan remarked after opening the IndoEBTKE ConEx 2017 event at the Balai Kartini Hall in Jakarta on Wednesday (Sept 13).
Earlier, legislator Rofi Munawar, a member of the House Commission VII, had called on the government to postpone its plan to import gas from Singapore.
The Indonesian government should postpone its plan to import LNG from Singapore, as the local gas output is still sufficient to meet the domestic demand, he stated.
Moreover, according to Munawar, the country will terminate its contract for the export of 5.5 million metric tons of LNG per year to South Korea and Japan.
"Natural gas is no longer an export commodity. It is the basic capital for domestic industrial development and is important to create energy sovereignty. It should not merely be a jargon, but it must be realized," he noted.
However, Minister Jonan refuted claims that the government is planning to import LNG from Singapore but instead aims to cooperate for the development of infrastructure as indicated in a Head of Agreement (HoA) between the two sides.
The HoA is an offer to take advantage of Singapore's LNG terminal, as an LNG hub location, considering its proximity to several gas-fired power plant sites to be built in Sumatra.
The agreement was signed by state-owned electricity company PT PLN and Pavilion-Keppel and is related to logistics studies and preparation of natural gas infrastructure development or small-scale LNG infrastructure facilities.
The cooperation in the HoA is based on the principle of equality and mutual benefits to both parties and will be carried out for six months from the date of signing. If the results of the study do not provide benefits to both parties for this project lasting six months, then the HoA does not proceed to the stage of inking the agreement as regulated by the applicable regulations in Indonesia and, in particular, the procurement regulation at PT PLN.
It contains activities and intensive discussions on the preparation of a more in-depth feasibility study related to LNG distribution for Tanjung Pinang and Natuna areas; preparation of the framework concept to distribute LNG owned by PLN from its existing contract with Indonesian domestic sources to small-scale power plants in Tanjung Pinang and Natuna; and development of small-scale LNG infrastructure for the Tanjung Pinang and Natuna areas adjacent to Singapore.
"Hence, this HoA is not a contract for buying and selling LNG, but it is for conducting a preparation study of the mini LNG infrastructure, with the aim of obtaining the most reliable and efficient logistics solution. If it is found later, from the study results, that the cost will be higher, then the study will end without follow-up implementation," Director of PLN Amir Rosidin revealed.
Indonesia's natural gas output was recorded at 6.775 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) last year. About 59 percent, or 3,997 MMSCFD, of the natural gas output was utilized to meet the domestic demand, while the remaining 41 percent, or 2.778 MMSCFD, was exported.
Nearly 29.36 percent of the gas exports were in the form of LNG.
The industrial sector, except the fertilizer industry, is the largest consumer of domestic gas, reaching 23.26 percent of the total consumption.***3***(A014/INE/o001)
EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/O. Tamindael) 14-09-2017 15:45 |
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar