Enviro News Asia, Jakarta — PT PLN Energi Primer Indonesia (PLN EPI), the primary energy subsidiary of state-owned electricity company PLN, is exploring biomass-based biohydrogen development to diversify Indonesia’s energy sources and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Indonesia has an estimated biomass resource potential of 83.4 million tonnes annually, including agricultural residues, wood waste, rice husks and agro-industrial waste. However, much of this resource remains unused, and its technical and economic feasibility must be assessed before it can be developed at scale.
PLN EPI Biomass Director Hokkop Situngkir presented the estimates at the 2026 Diaspora Berdampak programme, themed “Hydrogen: National Prospects and Global Landscape,” at the University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Engineering in Depok, West Java. The company reported the presentation on October 23, 2026.
According to PLN EPI’s mapping, Sumatra has the largest estimated biomass potential at 42.8 million tonnes per year, followed by Kalimantan with 18.9 million tonnes and Java with 13.1 million tonnes. Approximately 60.6 million tonnes of the total potential is estimated to remain unused.
Hokkop cautioned that the figures were indicative and did not yet fully account for technical and economic feasibility, resource accessibility or supply chain readiness.
Beyond its use in co-firing at coal-fired power plants, biomass could be processed into higher-value products, including biochar, synthesis gas (syngas), compressed biomethane gas (CBG) and biohydrogen.
Biohydrogen can be produced by converting biomass through gasification into syngas, a mixture consisting mainly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The gas is then processed and purified to obtain hydrogen for industrial applications or energy use. Commercial viability, however, depends on the technology, energy requirements, production costs and availability of suitable feedstock.
Hokkop said developing biohydrogen required more than abundant biomass resources and available technology. Regulatory certainty, investment, competitive production costs and market demand would also be necessary to establish a sustainable supply chain.
While biomass co-firing has benefited from policy support and pricing mechanisms, he said, CBG and hydrogen development still needed stronger regulatory frameworks and viable business models.
“The biggest challenge in developing biohydrogen is establishing a legal basis. At present, the regulations for its development still need to be advanced,” Hokkop said.
To accelerate development, PLN EPI is exploring several partnership models, including supplying biomass feedstock, purchasing hydrogen from producers and jointly investing in production facilities.
The company is also exploring international cooperation with Singapore-based eFuels SEA on biohydrogen for electro-sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF) production, as well as with China’s CISRI Hypore on studies involving biohydrogen and green ammonia.
These efforts form part of PLN EPI’s bioenergy business roadmap through 2030. In 2026, the company is focusing on studies of ammonia and hydrogen supply, followed by phased trials of hydrogen use and blending.
Despite the estimated scale of Indonesia’s biomass resources, the company’s plans will depend on whether feedstock can be collected and transported economically, whether residues face competing uses, and whether conversion technologies can produce hydrogen at competitive costs. Further feasibility studies and technology testing will therefore be needed before the estimated potential can be considered a commercially viable energy resource. (*)
