By Romel S. Gurky
PT Perkebunan Nusantara IV PalmCo, a sub-holding of Indonesian state plantation firm PT Perkebunan Nusantara III (Persero), has officially commenced construction of Indonesia’s first Compressed Biomethane Gas (CBG) plant using palm oil mill effluent (POME) as feedstock. The groundbreaking ceremony took place last weekend at the Tinjowan Palm Oil Mill (PKS) in Simalungun, North Sumatra.
The plant, developed in collaboration with Malaysian green energy firm PT reNIKOLA Primer Energi, will have an annual production capacity of 162,000 MMBtu, capable of reducing carbon emissions by up to 30,000 tons of CO₂ per year—equivalent to emissions from thousands of vehicles, according to PalmCo President Director Jatmiko K. Santosa.
“This CBG plant marks a major milestone in implementing palm-based renewable energy solutions. By converting POME, a persistent environmental challenge for the palm sector, into high-quality biomethane comparable to natural gas, we demonstrate circular economy practices that generate both environmental and economic value,” Jatmiko said.
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The facility, valued as a strategic investment, is expected to be completed within 14 months and begin full operations by Q4 2026. Clean energy produced will be supplied to PT Pertagas Niaga (PTGN), a subsidiary of Pertamina Gas Negara (PGN), under a 10-year power purchase agreement using a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) scheme.
PalmCo has been developing renewable energy from palm waste since 2019, operating six biogas installations in Riau. Two of these convert palm waste to electricity, while the remaining four produce eco-friendly gas for mill operations. Two additional plants are currently under construction and expected to start operations soon.
Jatmiko noted that the Tinjowan plant will serve as a model for expanding similar projects to 20 other PalmCo mills, supporting the company’s decarbonisation roadmap targeting a 54.46% emission reduction from business-as-usual levels by 2030.
Editing by Alexander Ginting
