Cilacap, Central Java – PT Refinery Unit IV Pertamina International (KPI) Cilacap boost environmentally friendly fuels production capacity through the Green Refinery project, a company spokesman said Thursday (27/10). After being able to commercially produce green fuel, in the form of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) of 3,000 barrels per day (3 thousand barrels per stream day/MBD), the capacity will be increased to 6 MBSD.
General Manager of PT KPI Cilacap Refinery, Edy January Utama, said that the development of Phase II of the Green Refinery requires an increase in the supply of raw materials. Green diesel production is made from Refined Bleached Deodorised Palm Oil (RBDPO) or palm oil (CPO) which has gone through a refining process to remove free fatty acids, as well as purification to remove colour and odour. Meanwhile, green avtur production uses Refined, Bleached, and Deodorised Palm Kernel Oil (RBDPKO). In the future, KPI will combine it with Used Cooking Oil (UCO) after going through previous studies.
“The plan (is to increase) the refinery capacity to 6 MBSD. Feed based on RBDPO or CPO with Used Cooking Oil, the ratio is planned to be 50:50,” said Utama at the Cilacap refinery.
Green Refinery phase II is targeted to be completed in 2026. Utama is optimistic that the supply of CPO will be maintained on an ongoing basis. Likewise with the supply of used cooking oil in the future, in collaboration with the Association of Indonesian Waste Waste Collectors (APJETI).
The Cilacap Refinery KPI requires RBDPO of 160 thousand kiloliters/year to produce 130 thousand kiloliters of HVO/year. Phase II development will later build new units such as Palm Oil Treater and Ecofining Reactor to be able to process multifeeds such as RBDPO, CPO and UCO.
Utama said, KPI has invested around USD 200 million for this project. The Green Refinery project is able to streamline investment costs up to 85 percent of the processed feed capacity. This efficiency comes from the use of refineries where previously the TDHT (Treated Distillate Hydrotreating) processing unit was modified to produce green diesel or D100, known as Pertamina Renewable Diesel (RD) products.
“The Green Refinery program is quite long, starting with laboratory-scale trials and research in 2017. By 2020, it is believed that it can be commercially realised and from November to December 2021 engineering procurement construction will be carried out for the process unit. In January 2022, we succeeded in carrying out commercial production activities,” explained Utama.
The HVO produced by KPI has ensured its reliability by obtaining the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), and contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions so that it deserves to be called a green product. ISCC’s sustainable carbon certification was initiated by the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) policies implemented in the European Union.
HVO was first exported to Singapore from August to October 2022. Pertamina Group is also exploring cooperation in selling Pertamina RD to the European market. Pertamina RD has also been used to support the international event Jakarta E-Prix 2022 on June 4, 2022.
“This is a tangible manifestation of Pertamina’s commitment to fulfil the need for alternative feedstock sources of raw materials. Utilising domestic energy potential, reducing crude imports, and using environmentally friendly energy because it is new and renewable,” he said. (Hartatik)
Photo banner: Green Refinery production area of PT Refinery Pertamina Internasional (KPI) Refinery Unit IV Cilacap, Thursday (27/10). (Hartatik)
