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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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Tuesday, 04 September 12
SHIP OWNERS' COMPETITION LEADS TO TANKER FIXTURES BELOW OPERATING COSTS - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
Ship owners operating in the VLCC tanker markets are increasingly finding it difficult to obtain even breakeven rates for their vessels, as competit ...
Tuesday, 04 September 12
ORPHEUS SECURES ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICANT KINTAP COAL PROJECT IN SOUTH KALIMANTAN
COALspot.com - Indonesian coal producer, Orpheus Energy (ASX:OEG) has announced that it has secured a 50% equity ownership in an additional tenement ...
Monday, 03 September 12
SHIPOWNERS TO WAIT FOR FURTHER PRICE REDUCTIONS IN THE SECOND HAND VESSEL MARKETS - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
With September now upon us, shipbrokers are looking towards an interesting winter season, as ship owners are looking to capitalize on more second ha ...
Sunday, 02 September 12
ADAROS COAL ROYALTIES TO THE GOVERNMENT INCREASED BY 10.5 PERCENT Y-O-Y TO US$196.8 MILLION
COALspot.com - PT Adaro Energy Tbk (IDX: ADRO), the second largest power plant coal producer in Indonesia, announced its consolidated auditor-review ...
Saturday, 01 September 12
FALLING PRICES; BLEEDING MINERS
COALspot.com - Sub-Bit Indonesia coal swaps (FOB ) for October 2012 delivery lost 4.070 percent and 0.422 percent respectively on W-o-W and D- ...
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- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Planning Commission, India
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- Economic Council, Georgia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Australian Coal Association
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- PTC India Limited - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
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