GE picks Indonesia to launch $1.4 billion new business

Jakarta Post – American technology company General Electric (GE) Co. has stated that it has chosen Indonesia as the country in which to launch its US$1.4 billion distributed power business, which concentrates on smaller-scale energy generation.

GE officially introduced its distributed power business in Jakarta on Tuesday to tap into the archipelago’s future energy blueprint.

GE vice chairman John G. Rice pointed out that Indonesia was “the perfect place” to develop distributed power technology given that roughly a quarter of the 240 million people living across the archipelago of at least 9,000 islands had no access to electricity.

This, he added, created a sector in which GE could deploy its distributive power technology, which could generate between 100 kilowatts (kW) to 100 megawatts (MW) of power onsite.

“The population is also very distributed, which makes Indonesia a big market,” he said, adding that GE had been in Indonesia for at least 70 years.

He further said the Indonesian government’s aim to shift the weight off fossil fuels to renewable energy was a supporting element for conducting pilot projects in the country.

“Therefore, Indonesia is a very strategic host country for pilot projects to demonstrate the efficiency of our technology,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Indonesia’s current energy mix comprises approximately 49 percent fossil fuels, which the government aims to reduce to 25 percent by 2025 based on the increased contribution from renewable resources.

Rice added that “a part” of the $1.4 billion that the Schenectady-based company was investing over a four-year period to get the new business up and running would go to pilot projects in Indonesia. [Click here for full article…]

SKK Migas: Indonesia Not an Oily Country

TEMPO/Subekti

Tempo.co – The Special Taks Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) stated that Indonesia does not have an abundant stock of oil and gas. “Indonesia’s oil reserve is only 0.5 percent of the world’s reserve,” said SKK Migas Secretary Gde Pradnyana. “We were a member of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) not because we were rich in oil, but because we had lesser consumption.”

Pradnyana mentioned that Indonesia was once a liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, back in the glorious days of the Bontang and Arun Oilrig. On the other hand, he added that daily oil lifting has reduced significantly in the last 40 to 50 years, from 23 billion barrel per day to 4 billion barrel per day.

“We have been deceived by the policy and consumption pattern for years, particularly in the New Order regime,” he said. [Click here for full article…]

Indonesia, US sign agreement on South-South cooperation

Jakarta Post – Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and his US counterpart, State Secretary John Kerry, signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday on South-South cooperation and the Triangular Cooperation and an agreement on wildlife conservation and the fight against illegal wildlife trafficking.

 

“The comprehensive partnership currently ongoing between Indonesia and the US has defined cooperation in various fields,” Secretary Kerry said in his remarks at the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta on Monday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

 

He said the US-RI bilateral relationship had grown stronger, marked by the signing of the agreements which were held after the fourth joint commission meeting.

 

Kerry said the signing of the agreements was aimed at improving US-RI bilateral relations that were being more closely bound together.

 

Kerry also conveyed US President Barack Obama’s condolences to all victims of the eruptions of Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra and Mount Kelud in East Java.

 

Kerry’s visit to Jakarta is part of his Asian trip, which includes Abu Dhabi, Beijing and Seoul, from Feb.13 to Feb.18.

 

Earlier, Kerry visited Istiqlal Mosque and gave a speech on climate change at the US Embassy’s high-tech cultural center in Jakarta, @america in Jakarta, on Sunday. [Click here for full article…]

Kerry in Indonesia to talk climate change

Secretary of State John Kerry steps off his plane after arriving at Halim Air Field on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, in Jakarta. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)(Credit: Evan Vucci)

Salon.com – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Indonesia to discuss climate change and press authorities in Jakarta to step up efforts to combat it.

Kerry is to deliver a speech on the matter here on Sunday, a day winning an agreement with China to cooperate more closely in reducing the effects of climate change. U.S. officials are hoping that other nations, particularly those in the developing world, will follow suit.

Kerry arrived in Indonesia on Saturday, shortly after the U.S. and China issued a joint statement saying they had agreed on steps to carry out commitments to curb greenhouse gases that trap solar heat in the atmosphere. The steps include reducing vehicle emissions, improving energy efficiency of buildings and other measures.

China and the United States are the biggest sources of emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that cause the atmosphere to trap solar heat and alter the climate. Scientists warn such changes are already leading to drought, wildfires, rising sea levels, melting polar ice, animal extinctions and other extreme conditions. [Click here for full article…]

Floods cause chaos across Greater Jakarta

Losing battle: A man removes trash from the inundated Buddhist Amurva Bhumi Temple (Hok Tek Tjeng Sin) in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, on Wednesday. The temple was flooded on Tuesday night due to rising water levels in the nearby Krukut River. The temple authorities said they hoped the floodwater would recede soon so that devotees could celebrate the Lunar New Year on Friday. Flooding is an annual challenge for the temple ahead of the Chinese New Year. (JP/P.J. Leo)

Jakarta Post – The floods returned on Wednesday after incessant rain hit the capital overnight, forcing hundreds of residents to wade back to evacuation shelters.

Unlike the recent flooding, more commercial districts and main thoroughfares were affected by floodwater that snarled up traffic for several hours in the morning.

“It took seven hours for me to drive to Jl. Senopati [in South Jakarta] from Bekasi. The traffic jam was unbearable. It was the worst ever congestion this month,” Fika, a commuter, said.

The city police’s Traffic Management Center (TMC) reported dozens of inundated locations.

The underpass of Cawang toll road from Halim heading to Rawamangun was under 60 centimeters of water, while in the Pondok Jaya area in Mampang Prapatan, South Jakarta, floodwaters reached a depth of 100 centimeters.

Some streets, including Jl. Patra Raya in Duri Kepa in West Jakarta and Jl. Kemang Raya in front of Kem Chicks supermarket in South Jakarta, were paralyzed as the inundation was between 50 cm and 70 cm.

Transjakarta bus operators had to reroute seven of 12 corridors to avoid flooding, while commuter rail operator PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek canceled the service from Bogor in West Java to Kampung Bandan in North Jakarta as the latter station was flooded.

According to Hari Tirto, head of the meteorology information subdirectorate with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the flooding was a result of heavy rainfall that particularly hit downstream areas in West, East, Central and South Jakarta.

The intense rain was forecast to continue during the evening and into the next two days, he said. [Click here for full article…]

House of Representatives Passes National Energy Policy

Jakarta Globe – The House of Representatives passed the National Energy Policy in a plenary meeting on Tuesday, securing renewable energy requirements for the coming decades.

“This is a significant point in the nation’s journey,” said Energy and Mineral Resources Jero Wacik. “At the moment we have a definitive National Energy Policy which has been agreed on by the House of Representatives. That way all energy programs should be based on and referred to the National Energy Policy.”

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed the policy before it went to the House.

The new policy will phase out fuel and electricity subsidies and stop coal and gas exports. The country netted $31.3 billion from the sale of oil and gas last year, but most of the proceeds were used to fund Rp 310 trillion ($25 billion) in energy subsidy. Indonesia plans to spend Rp 282 trillion on electricity, oil and fuel subsidies this year.

Deputy Speaker of the House Sohibul Iman, who led the plenary meeting, said that one significant point of the agreement was the incorporation of the principal of just economy into the process for setting energy prices, considering conservation and sustainability as part of the cost of production, alongside consumers’ purchasing power.

Jero said that the new policy would reduce gasoline dependency and increase the use of renewable energy.

At the moment, gasoline accounts for 49 percent of Indonesia’s energy usage. The new policy will seek to decrease that portion to 23 percent by 2025, while increasing the use of gas and coal.

Jero also said that Indonesia had the potential to exploit geothermal, solar, water, biomass and wind energy sources. [Click here for full article…]

Indonesia’s mining exports at standstill after new rules -govt official

Reuters – Indonesia’s metal ore and concentrate exports have ground to a halt, a trade ministry official said on Friday, with a ban on ore shipments and an export tax introduced less than two weeks ago hurting the mining industry.

“There has been no concentrate export since January 12,” Bachrul Chairi, director general of foreign trade at the trade ministry told Reuters. “As of now, no miners or companies have requested export approval for concentrate or processed ore to trade ministry.”

Indonesia introduced an ore export ban on Jan. 12, although last-minute amendments eased the impact of the export ban on copper miners Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold and Newmont Mining Corp, which are now subject to a progressive export tax on concentrates.

Freeport Indonesia has yet to resume exports since the export tax was introduced, while the Mineral Entrepreneurs Association has filed a legal challenge against the ore export ban.

The ban is expected to cut government revenue by as much as $820 million this year, the country’s finance minister has said. [Click here for full article…]

Govt set to introduce fixed subsidy for fuel sales this year

Fuel control: An official checks a radio frequency identification (RFID) device on the fuel tank of a car at a fuel station in Jakarta. The device records each car’s usage of subsidized fuel in a bid to control fuel consumption. (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)

Jakarta Post – The government has declared its commitment to undertake further reforms, with a top economic minister saying he will push a plan to implement a fixed subsidy for the sale of subsidized fuels this year.

The government “is preparing to move into a fixed subsidy regime”, Finance Minister Chatib Basri said at an international seminar held in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Indonesia adopts a price-based fuel subsidy. At present, the price of subsidized Premium gasoline is set at Rp 6,500 per liter (55 US cents), while the recent trend of rising oil prices and a weakening rupiah have driven up the market price of gasoline to around Rp 9,000 per liter.

With the current system, the price difference is paid for by the government’s subsidy. The higher the market price, the higher the subsidy the government must provide.

Under Chatib’s proposed fixed energy subsidy system, the government would fix fuel subsidies at a certain amount, such as Rp 1,500 per liter. With this mechanism, the price of Premium gasoline can be adjusted automatically when its market price soars or declines significantly.

“By doing so, you’ll remove all the risks regarding the exchange rate and oil price — the subsidy is fixed and you can keep the volatility [of the subsidy allocated in the state budget] within range,” the minister said.

“Don’t rule out the possibility of subsidy reforms, even this year. And by saying subsidy reforms, I mean electricity and fuel,” he added.

He said the government had considered changing the subsidy provision to a fixed system this year. [Click here for the full article…]

Banning Raw Mineral Export, Government Invites Associations

Illustration of a coal mining. ANTARA/Muhammad Adimaja

Tempo.co – Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry plans to meet associations before the raw mineral export ban is implemented on January 12. The meeting is to discuss the implementation of Law No. 4/2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining.

“We need suggestions from 40 associations of mineral businesses,” said Director General of Mineral and Coal at the ESDM Ministry, R. Sukhyar, at his office on Tuesday, January 7, 2014.

He explained that the ministry is preparing a legal base, particularly a Government Regulation Amendment that regulates companies already committed to mineral processing and refinery.

“There must be no more issues regarding to limitations. Therefore, we are drafting a ministerial regulation that will be stipulated before January 12, 2014,” said Sukhyar. He mentioned that the government still has some homework to establish the limitations. He said the limitations on mineral processing and refinery for export will be revealed in two or three days. [Click here for full article…]

Indonesia Ore Export Ban Could Boost Shipping Costs

The Maritime – Indonesia’s plan to ban exports of unrefined nickel and other minerals could drive up shipping costs as Chinese importers seek new supplies from more distant sources such as Australia and New Caledonia.

China typically buys most of its nickel ore from the Southeast nation, which plans to force mining companies from January to process raw metals before shipping them overseas as part of a drive to boost the value of exports.

“If there is a shift to other sources that have a greater ton-mile impact it will be very positive for the market,” said Khalid Hashim, managing director of Precious Shipping, one of Thailand’s largest dry cargo owners.

Charter rates for ships carrying dry bulk cargoes such as nickel ore and bauxite to China from Indonesia have already soared more than 50 per cent from late August to early December after Beijing boosted imports ahead of the planned ban, shipping data showed.

The French South Pacific territory of New Caledonia, Australia, Russia and the Philippines could boost nickel ore exports to fill the gap left by the Indonesian ban, said Jayendu Krishna, senior manager at Drewry Maritime Services. [Click here for full article…]

Scholars, intellectuals endorse Prabowo’s bid

The Jakarta Globe – A group of university professors and intellectuals announced on Wednesday its collective endorsement of Gerindra Party presidential candidate and chief patron Prabowo Subianto, giving the retired army general another moral boost ahead of the upcoming presidential election. Former Bandung-based Padjadjaran University rector Yuyun Wirasasmita, who read the group’s endorsement during a gathering […]