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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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Friday, 20 August 10
POWER COS SEEK MINING PARTNERS TO BID FOR 1,920-MW PROJECT
"A joint venture between the Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu governments for a pit-head power project, has been allotted the biggest coal block yet ...
Thursday, 19 August 10
INDONESIA EXPORTED 5.93 MLN TON OF COAL TO CHINA AND 3.52 MLN TONS TO INDIA IN JULY
COALspot.com: Indonesia shipped 3.52 million tones of thermal coal to India in July, fell 25.39 percent compared to June's exports of 4.71 million ...
Thursday, 19 August 10
WBPDCL INDIA LAUNCHES SPOT COAL TENDER
COALspot.com: The West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL ), A Govt. of West Bengal Enterprise, has launched spot contract tender ...
Thursday, 19 August 10
PANAMAX BACKED BY A STRONGER SHORT PERIOD MARKET AND SUPPORTED BY SOME FRESH REQUIREMENTS - FEARNBULK
Handy
The events of this week have confirmed our assessment of last week i.e. activity gradually picked up in the Atlantic with more enquiry seen ...
Thursday, 19 August 10
CSC TO SHIP COAL FOR NOROCHCHOLAI POWER PLANT
Daily Mirror reported that, coal for the Norochcholai Power Plant will be shipped to the country by the Ceylon Shipping Corporation (CSC) officials ...
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- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- PTC India Limited - India
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Australian Coal Association
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- The University of Queensland
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- White Energy Company Limited
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Planning Commission, India
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
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