Indonesia is finalizing a regulation that will open up carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects to more industries and allow greenhouse gases from other countries to be stored in Indonesia, a government official said on Oct. 31.
Indonesia's current regulatory framework for implementing carbon capture and storage and carbon capture, storage and utilization (CCUS) now only applies to the oil and gas sector.
Tutuka Ariadji, a senior official of energy ministry, said the country aims to be a carbon storage hub with its depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and saline aquifers.
"The new regulation will have a wider scope and make it possible for cross border storage, so carbon from abroad can be stored here through certain mechanisms," he said.
According to new rules, businesses outside oil and gas like cement and metal industries, will also be allowed to store carbon they emitted to CCS and CCUS facilities.
Indonesia is finalising a regulation that opens up CCS schemes to more industries and allow green house gases from abroad to be stored in the country.（Photo: Indonesia Center of Excellence for CCS/CCUS）
Indonesia’s 8 Gt carbon storage potential
The country holds storage capacity of 8 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon in the depleted reservoirs, while it would use up around 4 Gt of storage, Tutuka said, adding that an additional 400 Gt of storage capacity is available if it uses its saline aquifers.
Tutuka said there are currently 15 CCS and CCUS projects in various stage of preparation with total investment of nearly $8 billion, including BP's Tangguh CCUS project.
Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, BP's executive vice president for low-carbon energy, said in Sep. that the project under development at the Tangguh liquefied natural gas field in eastern Indonesia will re-inject 30 million tonnes of CO2 into a reservoir, "And that's just the beginning. There's potential to store much more, up to 1.8 Gt."
"The CCUS project has the potential to create one of the lowest carbon intensity LNG facilities in the industry, not just in the Asia Pacific region, but in the world," she said.
Japan aims for CO2 storage in Malaysian sites
As for CO2 transport and storage, Malaysia’s Petronas would work with Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) on a CCS project. Under the proposed agreements, CO2 emitted in Japan would be liquefied and transported for storage at sites in Malaysia including offshore natural gas fields.
Petronas recently signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and JOGMEC to strengthen collaboration on cross-border CO2 transportation for CCS projects. (Photo: Petronas)
Fuels with low environmental impact, such as hydrogen or ammonia, would be used to power the vessels. If it works out, the joint initiative would be the first international CO2 shipment in Asia.
