DEFLEKSI ENERGI: PENYIMPANGAN PRAKTEK COFIRING BIOMASSA DI JAWA TIMUR

This report by Trend Asia examines the implementation of biomass co-firing in East Java, focusing on Energy Plantation Forests (HTE), wood pellet exporters, and the Paiton Power Plant (PLTU Paiton). The findings suggest that the transition to biomass has caused economic losses for local farmers, ecological damage, and relies on illegal supply chains of wood sawdust, while failing to provide a viable business model for the state-owned forestry company Perhutani.

• Perhutani's Energy Plantation Forest (HTE) program in East Java has caused significant economic losses for local farmers. Farmers lost an estimated 144 million rupiah per hectare over three years because Gliricidia trees shaded out corn crops, which previously yielded a net profit of 48 million rupiah per hectare per year.
• The HTE business model is financially unviable for Perhutani. Trial harvests in KPH Padangan and Saradan showed that production and transport costs exceed the selling price; for example, one truck of Gliricidia from KPH Padangan to Gresik resulted in a loss of 180,000 rupiah.
• The HTE program has led to ecological degradation, including the planting of Gliricidia in protected river buffer zones (sepadan sungai) and contributing to the drying up of the Notopuro Reservoir in Madiun.
• Wood pellet exporters in East Java, specifically PT Kaliandra Merah Nusantara, do not supply PLTU Paiton. Instead, they export nearly all their products to South Korea. In 2023, PT Kaliandra Merah Nusantara exported 100% of its 19,287 metric tons of wood pellets to South Korea.
• The biomass supply chain for PLTU Paiton relies heavily on illegal sources. Monitoring in Pakuniran revealed that sawdust is supplied by sawmills lacking business permits, some of which process stolen wood from state forests.
• Fraudulent practices occur at PLTU Paiton's biomass reception points, where suppliers add water to sawdust to increase weight. This practice is allegedly known to and provides commissions for PLTU weighing officials.
• PLTU Paiton's operations have caused adverse health and environmental impacts, including respiratory infections (ISPA) among residents and the destruction of coral reefs and fish habitats due to coal spills.
• The demand for sawdust by PLTU Paiton has disrupted small-scale local industries, such as tofu and tempeh producers and brick makers, who previously received sawdust for free or at low cost as fuel.

APA

Trend Asia (n.d.). DEFLEKSI ENERGI: PENYIMPANGAN PRAKTEK COFIRING BIOMASSA DI JAWA TIMUR. https://trendasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Defleksi-Energi-Full-1.pdf

Chicago

Trend Asia. DEFLEKSI ENERGI: PENYIMPANGAN PRAKTEK COFIRING BIOMASSA DI JAWA TIMUR. n.d. https://trendasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Defleksi-Energi-Full-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Trend Asia |title=DEFLEKSI ENERGI: PENYIMPANGAN PRAKTEK COFIRING BIOMASSA DI JAWA TIMUR |url=https://trendasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Defleksi-Energi-Full-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{trendasianddefleksi, author = {{Trend Asia}}, title = {{DEFLEKSI ENERGI: PENYIMPANGAN PRAKTEK COFIRING BIOMASSA DI JAWA TIMUR}}, institution = {Trend Asia}, url = {https://trendasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Defleksi-Energi-Full-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }