Verdurous personnel supported the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Jakarta, with background studies of the energy sector for the Medium-Term National Development Plan 2025-2029 (“RPJMN”: Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Menengah Nasional) in Indonesia. The year–2023 assignment included the utilization of bio-energy and the development of bio-energy proposals as a part of the country’s plans for the energy sector. The team collected, identified, and mapped information relating to the bio-energy potential –bio-diesel, ethanol for blending with gasoline, and biogas – for assuring Indonesia's energy security.
The team then collected and analyzed data relating to projected fuel-wise demand and projections relating to costs of production and the market prices of fuels. The team evaluated the prospects for bio-energy related investments in the context of the administered end-user prices.
The study helped identify the gaps in the enabling environment and helped define medium-term plans of the Government of Indonesia. The team undertook and presented benefit-cost analyses of bio-energy related investments [for non-electricity uses] through the review of real-world capital expenditure data (CAPEX), operating expense data (OPEX), estimated revenues, estimated profit margins, etc, for bio-fuel production and supply.
The study projected the consumption of diesel – and, by extension, bio-diesel – in the country and the corresponding market prices that would apply through the plan period. The study also confirmed the long-term financial viability of producing and supplying biodiesel, given assumptions relating to the fixed and variable costs of production and supply. The report discussed the relative viability and attractiveness of alternative cooking fuels and technology options such as biogas from organic residues and manures, electricity-based induction cooking, and ingenuously produced Di-Methyl Ether (DME) as a fuel etc. Further, given the comparative advantage enjoyed by a few exporting nations, the study had recommended the continued import of ethanol or ethanol-gasoline blends for domestic use through to year 2030.