JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia seeks to boost coal gasification projects using funding from its newly launched sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia, the country’s energy minister said.
Indonesia, the world’s top thermal coal producer, has been pushing to process low-rank coal to produce dimethyl ether to slash LPG imports, but previous projects have stalled due to foreign investors pulling out.
“We only need the technology, the capital expenditure will be from the government and local investors,” Energy Minister Bahlil said late on Tuesday. “One of whom will be Danantara.
Bahlil said there were around four coal gasification projects located in South Sumatra and East Kalimantan that will be carried out in parallel. He did not provide details on the project size.
The coal gasification projects are part of the 21 natural resource processing projects worth $40 billion that the government seeks to accelerate.
Indonesia also plans to increase its fuel storage capacity and build a refinery with capacity of 500,000 barrels per day to ensure energy security, Bahlil said.
Investment for the new refinery is estimated at $12.5 billion, the energy ministry said.
Danantara, which was launched in February, is slated to eventually manage more than $900 billion worth of assets including government stakes in state firms.
President Prabowo Subianto has pledged $20 billion for Danantara’s “first wave of investment” that will target projects in natural resources processing, artificial intelligence development, as well as energy and food security.
(Reporting by Bernadette Christina, Stefanno Sulaiman, Stanley Widianto; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
