Indonesia to Maintain Coal Exports, Make Local Supply Mandatory

Monday,May30,2011
By Dinakar Sethuraman and Yoga Rusmana

Indonesia will continue to encourage exports of coal while making it mandatory for miners to meet domestic demand, Indonesian Energy Minister Darwin Saleh said at the Coaltrans Asia conference in Bali today.

Indonesia will maintain its “dual role” of generating government export revenue and meeting domestic demand, Saleh said. The country is trying to strike a balance between exports, which account for 75 percent of production, and supplying locally, he said.

The world’s biggest exporter of thermal coal is building 20 gigawatts of capacity by 2014 of which 14 gigawatts will be coal-fired, Saleh said. Coal production increased 16 percent annually over the last 5 years, he said. (sourced Bloomberg)