VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has temporarily banned coal exports from January 1 to 31, 2022, to ensure the availability of coal stocks for domestic power plants.

The export ban is aimed at the holders of mining business permits (IUPs) and coal mine company work contracts (PKP2Bs), Director Ggeneral of Mineral and Coal at the ministry Ridwan Jamaludin informed in a statement here on Saturday.

Declining coal supply could affect more than 10 million customers of state-run electric company PT PLN (Persero), he explained.

This figure constitutes both the general public and the industry, he elaborated.

If the export ban is not enforced, it could cause an outage at 20 coal-fired power stations generating 10.850 megawatts of power, he said.

"This could potentially disturb the stability of the national economy. When the coal supply for the power plants is enough or returns to normal, then we can export," Jamaludin informed.

"We will evaluate it after January 5, 2022," he said.

The government has reminded coal entrepreneurs to fulfill their commitment to supplying coal to PLN, he added.

However, in practice, the coal supply for PLN has been below the obligated coal sale percentage for domestic requirement (DMO) each month, he pointed out.

This caused PLN to experience a coal supply deficit at the end of 2021, he informed.

According to Jamaludin, a secure coal supply at PLN's coal-fired power station is above 20 days of operation.

Until January 1, 2022, of the 5.1 million metric tons targeted by the government, only 35 thousand metric tons were delivered, or less than one percent, he noted.

"This figure could not fulfill the need of every power plant. If we do not make a strategic move, there will be a widespread power outage," he affirmed.

The government has issued the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministerial Decision No. 139.K/HK.02/MEM.B/2021 that specifically regulates the obligation to fulfill domestic coal demand, which is at least 25 percent of the agreed production plan, he said.

Meanwhile, the price of coal for the provision of electric power for the general public is US$70 per metric ton, he added.

Jamaludin emphasized that complying with the obligation to fulfill domestic coal demand would preserve the investment climate and the national economy.

In addition, he informed that coal entrepreneurs understood and supported the policy of temporarily banning coal exports to support domestic coal demand.

As a coal entrepreneur, he urged PLN to fix the coal supply procurement mechanism in order to improve it.

"At the same time, we also ask PLN to make an effort and take a step to support a quality and reliable electric energy provision for all of Indonesia," he remarked. (Antaranews)