Indonesia starts construction of $2.3bn coal gasification plant

Indonesian President Joko Widodo launched construction of a $2.3-billion coal gasification plant on Monday, in a bid to slash the country's liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports while optimising its coal resources.

The plant is designed to utilise 6-million tonnes of low rank coal to produce 1.4 t of dimethyl ether (DME) annually, which can reduce Indonesia's LPG import by 1-million tonnes per year, according to state coal miner Bukit Asam , which is building the plant in partnership with US firm Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.