Jokowi Inaugurates the First Carbon Storage Project in West Papua

Reuters

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Friday (24/11) inaugurated the construction of a carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) project in the province of West Papua operated by British Petroleum (BP). This CCUS project in West Papua is the first carbon storage project in the country.

The CCUS project has the potential to store up to 1.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide, Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Minister (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif said in a statement Friday.

In September, an energy ministry official said BP would invest $2.6 billion in the project, with the first carbon injection expected by 2026. BP did not provide the investment figure.

This new project follows the completion of BP’s Tangguh Train 3 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project worth $4.83 billion in West Papua last month.

Indonesia is interested in developing the CCUS project and the carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. Indonesia is estimated to have a carbon storage capacity of 8 gigatons in depleted oil and gas reservoirs, and 400 gigatons in salt aquifers.

Data from the Ministry of Energy shows that there are currently 15 CCS and CCUS projects in various stages of preparation in Indonesia with a combined investment of almost $8 billion, including BP projects.

Although the international oil and gas industry is in the right position to improve the technology to help achieve its net zero emissions goal by 2050, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report on Thursday that it may not be a major economically viable solution to reduce global warming if oil and gas production is not reduced.

In the same visit to West Papua, Jokowi also inaugurated the construction of a fertilizer factory in Fakfak which is designed to produce 1.15 million metric tons of urea fertilizer and 825,000 metric tons of ammonia fertilizer.

The investment for the plant is expected to reach 30 trillion rupiah and construction is expected to be completed by 2038, according to a statement from the presidential palace on Thursday night. [ab/uh]