Analysis of Co-firing in Bolok Coal-fired Power Plant Using Woodchips to Support Decarbonization

Indonesia is committed to setting a target to reach 23% renewable energy usage in 2025 and be fossil fuel free by 2060. Biomass co-firing is one of the strategies of PT PLN (Persero) to accelerate carbon emission reduction and increase the national new renewable energy mix. This paper proposes a methodology for evaluating the performance of biomass co-tiring implemented in a coal-fired power plant on a basis of a multi-criteria assessment built to analyze the technical, financial, and environmental impacts associated with the operation parameters. Bolok coal-fired power plant is implementing biomass co-firing using woodchip, the most biomass potential near the power plant. According to the combustion test conducted by the team from 0% to 100% co-firing ratio, the main steam temperature, pressure, and flow value are within a normal range of operation (using 100% coal). Increased woodchip percentages in co-firing will reduce coal-fired power plant emissions (CO2 avoided), particularly Nitrogen oxide (NOx) and Sulphur dioxide (SO2). Furthermore, implementing a woodchip for biomass co-firing will also show the production cost efficiency improvement based on the Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC) value but also cause load derating at 75% and 100% co-firing due to the less calorific value. The proposed methodology for performance evaluation will allow the development and implementation of biomass co-burning to support decarbonization.