Advantages of underground coal gasification implementation in Indonesia

Abstract

Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) is an energy manufacturing process whereby coal is gasified or chemically converted into a gas, in-situ. UCG has several benefits in terms of low capital cost, lower environmental impact, high energy density and long-term production certaint y. The objective of this study is to describe the advantages of implementing UCG technology in Indonesia based on UCG gas resources, product market, coal quality and availability of regulation to support UCG projects. UCG gas resources are estimated based on data of CBM resource and coal quality was examined by heat treatment. The size of conservatively estimated potential UCG gas manufacturing volume in Indonesia based on CBM data is 160 TCF which is greater than Indonesia’s natural gas reserves, namely 142.7 TCF. UCG gas markets are available in South Sumatera and East Kalimantan since the natural gas production in the two provinces is declining significantly. UCG in Indonesia is regulated under the mineral and coal regulatory regime, which brings some benefits, including more flexibility in the type of drilling rigs that can be used for UCG, compared to oil and gas drilling.