Analysis on the feasibility of small-scale biogas from palm oil mill effluent (POME) – Study case: Palm oil mill in Riau-Indonesia

¹ CAME, RWTH Aachen University,   Germany
² Laboratory Fuel Technology and Engineering Design-BPPT, 480 Puspiptek, 15314 Indonesia
³ Centre of Technology for Materials-BPPT, 480 Puspiptek, 15314 Indonesia

Abstract

The province of Riau has the most significant palm oil plantation in Indonesia which has the potential of the palm oil mill effluent (POME). One way to use this liquid waste is by the anaerobic process into biogas to generate electricity. Based on the assumption of calculated liquid waste can produce biogas about 538 m3 / hour or equal to 4,600 MJ / hour potentially generate electricity about 1 MW. This paper discusses the scheme of the POME Biogas Power Plant project which benefits the palm oil mill which is Built-operate-transfer (BOT) with a duration of 15 years selected as a reference. With this duration obtained IRR of 17.47% higher than at WACC of 15.61% and a payback period of 5.63 years. The 15-year duration gives Investor resilience in case of an increase of loan interest rate to 13% during the repayment period. Also, the use of alternative schemes that may be pursued by biogas products from cleaned digesters is then used as gas fuel to operate diesel generators. Plant Alternative for BOT duration for five years. The project is very feasible to be implemented with a very high IRR (37.56%) score when compared to WACC (15.61%).