On March 9, 2023, the Director General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR), Dadan Kusdiana, and the Deputy for Information Technology of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Andi Maulana, launched the Standard Classification of Indonesian Business Fields (KBLI) 35203 in Jakarta.

This launch represents a concrete step for Indonesia in providing legal and technical clarity for the biomethane business. With the support of GGGI, the Government of Indonesia (GoI) encourages biogas and biomethane investments by accommodating biogas businesses in the 2020 KBLI with the 35203 licensing category.

The National Energy General Plan (RUEN) targets a biogas contribution to the national energy mix of 489.8 million m3 by 2025. Data from the EBTKE of MEMR show that in 2022, the full implementation of biogas reached 47.72 million cubic meters from 52,113 biogas facilities for households, communities, and industries.

The development of biogas is one of the government’s strategies to develop new renewable energy (RE), especially in the bioenergy sector. The biogas business contributes to energy resilience, reduced energy imports, and a better environment. The biogas development program includes household biogas, communal biogas, industrial biogas, biomethane, and Compressed Biomethane Gas (CBG). CBG is pure biogas derived from raw materials such as palm oil industry waste, agriculture, livestock, and urban areas.

The launch of KBLI 35203 aims to stimulate industrial-scale production of biogas. Prior to this, biogas utilization predominantly occurred at the household and communal levels. With the backing of industrial-scale development, the adoption of biogas is expected to keep growing. Given the various advantages it offers, biogas holds the potential to replace natural gas and LPG.

In the development of biogas, the Ministry of ESDM cooperates with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) of Central Kalimantan and East Kalimantan Provinces, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

Click here to learn about the five steps to apply for a biogas license as other energy resources.