Indonesia's PGN to commercialise biomethane from palm oil mill effluent

Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN), an Indonesian gas supplier, is in talks with three Japanese companies - JGC Holdings Corporation, Osaka Gas, and Inpex Corporation - to commercialise biomethane derived from palm oil mill effluent (POME) in Indonesia, the companies said on September 25.

The proposed project would recover methane gas currently released into the atmosphere from POME, refine it into biomethane, and supply it to customers in Indonesia via natural gas pipelines and other existing infrastructure. Indonesia is the world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil. 

The parties said they have been jointly studying the use of POME-based biomethane for some time. Recently, a decision was made regarding the use of PGN natural gas pipelines, which, along with the memorandum of understanding for feedstock procurement concluded with palm plantations and the expressions of interest received from customers, has led the participants to begin in-depth discussions. 

In addition to reducing methane gas emissions, other potential benefits include meeting the country's rising natural gas demand and reducing consumer CO2 emissions by shifting from fossil fuels to biomethane, the companies stated.

In the future, the scale of these operations is expected to expand across Sumatra and to Kalimantan as project participants also will consider supplying bio-LNG liquefied from biomethane as a bunker fuel, exporting bio-LNG to Japan and elsewhere, and other potential business.