JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) – Indonesian coal miner, PT Bukit Asam Tbk (IDX: PTBA), PT Pertamina and United States’ Air Product and Chemicals launched the coal downstream plant into Dimethyl Ether (DME) in Peranap mine, Riau, on Thursday (02/07). The plant has a capacity of 1.4 million tons (MT) of DME per year with coal needs of 9.2 MT per annum.
The company explained, this DME will be used by state-owned energy producer’ Pertamina as liquefied petroleum gas substitution to reduce imports.
According to Arviyan Arifin, the CEO of Bukit Asam, the selecting mining area in Peranap as the location of coal gasification because it has large reserves of low calorie coal. With the existence of this coal gasification project, it will certainly revive and optimize the role of Peranap coal for national energy security and community welfare.
To reminder, last January, the third parties has signed a joint cooperation to build coal gasification project in Pranap followed the Memorandum of Understanding in Allentown, United Stated on Nov. 7, 2018. Furthermore the three companies wset up joint venture company to make coal into DME.
