JAKARTA, The potential for large coal resources and reserves owned by Indonesia is still very abundant. Based on data from the Geological Agency, Indonesia's coal resources are still 99.19 billion tons and reserves are 35.02 billion tons or enough for 150 years.

Deputy Chairman of the Indonesia Mining Association Ezra Leonard Sibarani said, referring to the reserve data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, if coal production is assumed to be 700 million tons per year, new coal reserves will run out in the next 47-50 years. If used alone for domestic needs projected at 200 million per year with the calculation of the increasing trend of Electric Vehicles, the life of coal reserves can be up to 165 years.

Ezra said that due to the large potential of coal, IMA recommends considering whether we can use coal beyond 2060. Apart from the fact that coal has an important role, the cost of energy transition by utilizing renewable energy is very large. "We must consider carefully, lest we owe more to our children and grandchildren," he said.

Lana Saria, acknowledged that the role of coal is increasingly important because the utilization of renewable energy in the current energy transition period is only about 2% of the existing potential.

"Coal is currently still dominant at 42.4%, followed by fuel at 31.4% and gas and NRE. So it is still the main energy source, because the potential of coal is still very large compared to other energy sources," said Lana.

In 2023, the national coal production target reached 694.5 million tons. The production is intended for DMO 176.8 million tons and export 517.7 million tons. "Production until November reached 710.75 million tons of coal. Assuming an average production per month of 64.6 million tons, until the end of the year it is projected at 775.17 million tons or 111% of the 2023 target," Lana said.

Not only does coal support national energy sources, but its contribution to state revenue is also considerable. Through royalties to Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP), coal's contribution is recorded to be the largest compared to other mineral and coal commodities, such as gold and copper.

"As of December 11, 2023, PNBP from coal royalties reached Rp94.59 trillion, exceeding the target in PNBP 2023 of Rp84.26 trillion," Lana said.

Sources : investor.id- Dec 19.23