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Sunday, 20 June 10
OUR COAL: ITS DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES
 Indonesia’s production of coal has been growing amazingly. In the mid 1980s, national coal production was less than 1 million tons per annum, whereas energy planners (in the fourth Five Year Development Plan: 1989-1994) pointed at 10 million tons as the national production target.
The current production has jumped dramatically, recorded as 237 million tons in 2008 (predicted to achieve 270 million tons this year), making Indonesia a world class producer and the largest exporter of coal around the globe. The skyrocketing growth of our coal production has also incited many controversial issues.
Coal is considered as the dirtiest among fossil fuels, making environmentalists oppose their wide use
as fuel.
However, the proposal for ceasing use of coal — power generation, for instance — would be challenged by power utilities demanding low cost fuel that coal may offer and by the government, which has the responsibility to provide electricity as well as have revenue from exploiting its energy resources.
Despite the world’s rising anxiety of global warming, IEA (International Energy Agency: World Energy Outlook 2009) statistics shows that the world consumption for coal, for the last decade, is still growing the fastest among primary energy sources.
The environmental problem associated with coal in Indonesia is not limited to green houses gases (GHG), but also damage and pollution since its exploitation, transportation and uses to post mining.
It is easy to find where many coal fields are not mined appropriately according to “good mining and environmental practices”, coal transportation is not considering safety standards and is damaging rivers, (public) roads and seashores.
The coal mining has polluted the land, water and air of especially Kalimantan, where more than 90 percent of Indonesia’s coal mining operations take place.
It is sad that many of the previous mining areas have been abandoned without being properly reclaimed, whereas thousands of hectares of the island’s tropical forests have been converted into desert.
The soaring exploitation, including its negative impact on the environment, has a strong correlation with the number of licensing/permits awarded.
The introduction of the 1999 Regional Autonomy Law, subsequently followed by the 1999 Fiscal Balancing Law between the Central and Regional Governments have — to some degree — impacted on the coal licensing regime, where larger authorities had been given to regional/local governments.
Under the new licensing regime by local governments, requirements for coal permits tend to be relaxed whereas monitoring has not been done properly.
As a result, the number of permits (Mining Authorization/KP) has been growing considerably (currently 462, of which 169 are producing), coal production increases, but also environmental problems and the issues of illegal mining exist.
The question of who really owns the KP licenses exists, which was defined as that it can be owned by Indonesian national/companies only.
While the largest part of coal in Indonesia are being produced by large companies (the holders of Coal Contract of Work/PKP2B), some coal is mined by small scale and illegal miners.
It is believed that a significant amount of coal has been produced by illegal miners (some 5 million tons annually) and part has gone to meet export demand.
Wherever in the world, illegal miners lack interest in responsible mining and mine rehabilitation practices. Illegal mining is a problem for potential investors, the environment and government revenues.
The government has introduced measures to crack down on problems, including arresting illegal miners.
However, it cannot be the only solution since illegal mining is actually rooted in underemployment, local poverty and weak law enforcement, while the number of people involved in these activities is quite significant.
An alternative to confrontation to illegal miners by the central government (who awards the large scale PKP2B mining license) should be a cooperative and more comprehensive approach.
“Despite the world’s anxiety of global warming, IEA statistics shows that the world consumption for coal is still growing the fastest among primary energy sources.”
Work together with local/rural governments and communities to reduce poverty, educate/assist the illegal miners to increase their awareness on good mining practices (including mine rehabilitation), provide transition period fiscal incentives to encourage illegal mining toward the regulated mining sector, among others.
It needs to maintain an appropriate balance between the soaring exports of coal (about three quarters of production on average) and the domestic growing demand for the same fuel.
Push for exports is still coming largely from the traditional East Asians (Japan is the largest), while the coal-hungry India and China are also increasing their demand for our coal.
The exports will be competed with by the Blue Print for Energy Management 2005-2025 pointing out that one third of Indonesia’s energy primary energy mix in 2025 is to be supplied by coal, (the current share is about 15 percent).
Even though it is often mentioned that our coal reserves are quite large (current proven reserves of 5.5 billion tons; estimated resources of 105 tones) and that our reserves for coal are much larger than that of oil and gas, we should watch their fast rate of exploitation cautiously.
It needs to recalculate the benefit of exploiting them, taking into account their damage to the environment and what is left post mining. Where have all the revenues from exploiting that coal gone? Is the escalating export not jeopardizing the domestic energy security in the near future?
We have ample experiences, for instance in exploiting the resources-rich Kalimantan. The forests, oil and gas reserves have been exploited for about four to five decades, but it seems that the island has not enjoyed the fruits of the excessive exploitation: the current regional economy remains weak, infrastructure is poor and energy supplies for local uses have not been secured.
It needs to promote the terms “resources balance, depletion, sustainability”, start internalizing the costs of environmental impact and enforce those concepts into workable policies for our coal mining development.
The writer is the senior energy planner and an economist with the National Development Planning Agency. The opinions expressed are his own.
Source: The Jakarta Post ( Hanan Nugroho)
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Wednesday, 27 July 11
BLACKSTONE TO INVEST INR 5,000 MILLION (APPRX. US$ 111 MILLION) IN VISA POWER
Press Release - The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) today announced that it will be investing INR 5,000 million (c. USD 111 million) in VISA Power ...
Tuesday, 26 July 11
UT'S SALES COULD REACH TO 8000 UNITS BY THE END OF 2011
COALspot.com - Sales of Komatsu heavy equipment in the domestic market in the first half of 2011 rose 59 percent to 4333 units compared to the same ...
Monday, 25 July 11
INDONESIA STATE ELECTRICITY COMPANY HAS BURNED 19 MMT OF COAL FOR FIRST HALF OF 2011
COALspot.com - Indonesia's State Electricity Company and other IPPs have burned 19 million tons of coal for first half of this year said,Pamudji Nu ...
Monday, 25 July 11
AKR CORPORINDO TO PRODUCE 0.3 MMT OF COAL BY DECEMBER
COALspot.com - PT AKR Corporindo (AKRA) began producing coal from its mine in Muara Teweh, Central Kalimantan. The company is targeting to pro ...
Sunday, 24 July 11
AN INDIAN PORT SETS A WORLD RECORD FOR CONVENTIONAL COAL DISCHARGE
COALspot.com - Krishnapatnam Port has set a World record for discharging 106,171 tons of steam coal in just 24 hrs using the conventional unloading sy ...
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- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- PTC India Limited - India
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Australian Coal Association
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
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