PT Adaro Energy, (ADRO), one of Indonesia’s biggest coal producers, is in preliminary discussion for a possible plan to build an energy plant that would produce Dimethyl Ether (DME), a substitute for LPG, said Febriati Nadira, corporate communication manager of Adaro on Friday, confirming a report ran by Kontan newspaper as saying.
“We have conducted a feasibility study to move into coal downstream business including coal gasification. In our view, the technology to move into coal downstream business is still developing. We are now still assessing the effectiveness and competitiveness of the technology,” Nadira told CoalMint in an interview confirming a report ran by Kontan newspaper earlier in the day.
Should Adaro go ahead with its plan, it would have a plant that will create value-added produce to produce Dimethyl ether (DME). Nadira, though, declined to disclose the terms of the plant including total investment, the time frame and if it was in talks with foreign partners or not to build such a plant.
“There is not much that we can share right now,” Nadira said.
By definition, DME has characteristics similar to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a household cooking fuel. DME can be made from synthesized gas by producing cracking natural gas, coal and biomass.
Garibaldy Tohir, or popularly known as Boy Tohir, chief executive officer of Adaro did not return call seeking comments on the story.
Adaro Energy (ADRO) had announced last month that its coal output was projected to hit 65 MnT this year from an estimated 55 MnT in 2018.
Indonesian companies have started to seek ways to produce a more environmental-friendly and cheaper power source.
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