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Monday, 06 October 14
' COAL-BY-WIRE' FROM SUMATRA TO JAVA - THE JAKARTA POST
 Coal from the island of Sumatra accounts for most of Indonesia’s low-grade lignite, a low-quality coal that receives a poor price in international markets.
Given this low pricing combined with high transportation costs and the fact that most reserves are located in landlocked areas, it is not feasible to export Sumatra’s coal out of the island.
It is more efficient to use Sumatra’s coal for a mine-mouth power plant, an approach in which we develop a power plant very close to where mines are located, use the low-calorie coal from the mines to feed the plant, and transmit the electricity, rather than transporting a low-value commodity, out of the mines.
With mine-mouth, we no longer require either barges or expensive railway-heavy infrastructure to transport coal; rather we need to have long-distance high-voltage transmission lines to bring “coal-by-wire” from mines to consumer centers, either regions in Sumatra and/or Java-Bali.
Essentially, with “coal-by-wire” we are transporting a higher-value commodity by wire from mines to customers. Coal stays in the landlocked areas and feeds mine-mouth, coal-fired power plants.
“Coal-by-wire” would definitely boost the development of a domestic market for low-grade coal. Today, our market for coal is very thin as we are one of the world’s leading exporters of thermal coal of a high quality in the international market.
Our exports have increased very significantly within the past decade on account of demand from fast-growing Asian economies. More than 80 percent of our coal currently produced is exported.
Indeed, coal is currently the most important source of energy for our economy. For decades coal has accounted for more than half of our power-generation capacity. And this will continue for a half century to come before alternative and cleaner energy sources other than coal become affordably available.
Our economy is also growing, and of course will require more electricity power and therefore coal – challenges that have to be met. Electricity generation now consumes close to 75 million tons per year, and will almost triple in the next 10 to 15 years.
However, domestic use of coal today notoriously suffers from infrastructure bottlenecks. Congested barges and ports, as well as a shortage of railways limit the transportation of coal from coalmines in two coal-producing regions, Kalimantan and Sumatra, to demand centers in Java-Bali, where most of our power plants are located.
The majority of our coal reserves in the two regions are located in landlocked areas that require rail transportation infrastructure to reach ports for export.
Either truck haul or rail is needed to transport the coal to barge ports and terminals.
Truck operating costs are about twice that of rail, but existing rail transportation infrastructure is severely insufficient.
Indonesia’s attempts to improve coal-transport infrastructure for the domestic market have not been very successful. Dedicated coal ports in Kalimantan have been planned for many years, but implementation has again faced bottleneck issues.
Specialized railways for coal in Sumatra have also been initiated, but this concept is still under development and has not yet received a higher-level mandate or legal authorization.
Delays in expanding the capacity of barge and transportation infrastructure cause inefficiencies and high transportation costs in domestic coal utilization. These high costs and infrastructure bottlenecks have held back the development of the domestic market for coal.
Our high-voltage transmission lines are also astonishingly limited. The state-owned electricity company (PLN) operates approximately 40,000 kilometers of transmission lines, with less than 15 percent of this total serving the island of Sumatra.
If we can build more mine-mouth, coal-fired power generation plants we will need to expand our transmission network across the island, interconnected to other transmission systems in Java-Bali.
A new set of lines of a high-voltage of 500 kilovolts and medium-voltage of 275 kV needs to be developed as a backbone network across the island, i.e. providing long-distance, reliable and stable transmission.
The distribution system and transformer capacity also need to be expanded to service a larger coverage of costumers and demand centers.
We are required also to develop an interconnected transmission system, as existing electricity transmission is not compatible across regions due to different systems and manufacturer standards adopted in the past.
The current initiative of developing inter-island interconnection lines between Java and Sumatra with 500kV High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) lines needs to be completed in harmony with the mine-mouth development.
These long-distance transmission and distribution lines, as well as interconnected systems are required to exist before a system of mine-mouth power plants is commissioned to ensure that electricity produced can be transmitted in a timely manner and with minimum cost.
Both the central and local governments must work hand-in-hand to endorse incentives to encourage the private sector — independent power producers (IPPs) — to develop mine-mouth power plants.
Incentives need to be designed to enhance the financial viability of IPPs’ mine-mouth power plant projects.
PLN as an off-taker of IPP plays a fundamental role as the “coal-by-wire” agent, and has to be ready to absorb all of the risks associated with the development and operation of the system, including the difficulties in land acquisition and intra-regional compatibility of transmission systems.
Sumatra with its huge resources of low-grade coal can secure its own electricity supply and, eventually, can be the source of low-cost electricity with its energy radiating not only to Java, but also to every corner of the country.
Source: The Jakarta Post
The writer is deputy for energy and mineral resources at the office of Coordinating Economic Minister.
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Wednesday, 01 October 14
ASIAN THERMAL COAL PRICES TO REMAIN WEAK ON OVERSUPPLY - FITCH
COALspot.com: The thermal coal market in Asia will remain oversupplied in the next 12 months, in spite of on-going rationalisation of production, a ...
Wednesday, 01 October 14
PANAMAXES: DEFENSIVE, STRUGGLING TO KEEP ANY FURTHER DECREASES - INTERMODAL
COALspot.com: The Dry Bulk market seemed unable to shake off the trend of the week prior and the BDI remained on a downward slope for the bigger pa ...
Wednesday, 01 October 14
FITCH: GLOBAL ECONOMY FACES MULTI-SPEED RECOVERY, MULTIPLE RISKS
Fitch Ratings says in its latest Global Economic Outlook (GEO) that global growth will pick up in 2015 and 2016, but risks are weighted to the down ...
Tuesday, 30 September 14
COALVIEW TO PARTICIPATE AT MET COKE WORLD SUMMIT 2014 IN CHICAGO
COALspot.com: Coalview Ltd., LLC(“Coalview”) America's leading fully integrated coal technology and fine coal recovery company prov ...
Monday, 29 September 14
INDONESIAN COAL EXPORT VOLUME FALL IN AUGUST
COALspot.com: Indonesia, one of the world's largest coal producers and the global leading multi grade coal exporter shipped around $1.50 ...
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- Planning Commission, India
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- PTC India Limited - India
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Australian Coal Association
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- MS Steel International - UAE
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- VISA Power Limited - India
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- White Energy Company Limited
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- The University of Queensland
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
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