Indonesia’s state-owned energy group Pertamina is executing plans to expand renewable fuels production capacity at its Plaju refinery in South Sumatra and Cilacap refinery in Central Java. The company has awarded contracts for the projects to Honeywell UOP LLC, which cover basic engineering, technology licenses, specialty equipment, catalysts, and personnel training.
According to UOP, Pertamina’s contracts include the construction of a biorefinery at the 118,000-bpd Plaju refinery. UOP will provide its proprietary Renewable Jet Fuel Process for the new unit to produce renewable diesel fuel, renewable jet fuel, and green LPG from 20,000 bpd of vegetable oils and fats. Meanwhile, at the 348,000-bpd Cilacap refinery, UOP will provide its proprietary Ecofining technology to revamp an existing unit so it can produce advanced biofuels from 6,000 bpd of vegetable oils and fats.
These projects are part of Pertamina’s efforts to help the Indonesian government to increase biofuel share in its domestic energy mix to more than 5% by 2025. Indonesia imports about 1.5 million bpd of refined products, or about 30% of its domestic production capacity. The additional biofuel capacity is expected to reduce the country’s dependence on imports, strengthen energy security, and advance its agro-economy.
Aside from the two projects, Pertamina has been pushing into renewable fuels. In July, it successfully started the conversion of 100% refined, bleached, and deodorized palm oil (RBDPO) into 1,000 bpd of green diesel (D-100) using a domestically-developed catalyst at its 170,000 bpd Dumai refinery in Riau. The production is a follow-up of a pilot project at the site started in December 2014.
