Along with its ambitious target to achieve net zero emissions by 2060, Indonesia continues to promote carbon storage technology as part of its climate change mitigation efforts.
Carbon storage, or more fully carbon capture and storage (CCS), is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from sources such as power plants and industrial facilities, and storing them safely so they are not released into the atmosphere.
PT Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE) is strengthening its role as a pioneer in the CCS and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) business. According to PT Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE) Director of Investment & Business Development Dannif Utojo Danusaputro, the current global trend requires companies to decarbonize in order to balance the carbon emissions produced, in order to achieve net zero emissions by 2060.
"CCS and CCUS are one of the potential solutions to reduce carbon emissions," Dannif explained in an official statement (27/8/2025).
Dannif claimed that PHE's experience in the upstream oil and gas industry is very relevant to develop the CCS and CCUS business in Indonesia as a new environmentally friendly business. He said that PHE has the potential to develop a CCS/CCUS business cluster with a capacity of up to 60 million metric tons per year.
He also revealed that Indonesia has a huge potential carbon emission storage capacity. That is, 7.3 Gigatons (GT) spread across saline aquifers and depleted oil/gas fields.
To capitalize on this potential, PHE plans to build two main CCS hubs and several satellite CCS to serve carbon emitting companies.
"PHE will build 2 CCS hubs and several CCS satellites that will serve domestic and international emitters. We need to collaborate with strategic partners to build CCS hubs and satellites," he said.
More specifically, Pertamina Hulu Energi is currently developing CCS hubs in the Asri Basin (Western Indonesia) with a storage potential of approximately 1.1 GT, and in the Central Sulawesi Basin (Eastern Indonesia) with a potential of 1.9 GT. In addition, satellite CCS/CCUS will be established in three locations: South Sumatra Basin, CO2 EOR Sukowati, and East Kalimantan.
"Domestic and international emitting industries are potential markets for the development of the CCS business ecosystem in Indonesia and Asia Pacific," he explained.
Dannif also emphasized the importance of government support, including in terms of funding, carbon pricing mechanisms, research, technical standards, and cross-border business governance.
Innovative initiatives
Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, stated that Indonesia has taken concrete steps in realizing green industry transformation.
"For emissions that are difficult to eliminate completely, additional solutions are needed such as CCU technology that is able to capture and utilize carbon from the production process," Agus explained through an official statement (20/8/2025).
One of the ongoing pilot projects is the implementation of hydrometallurgy-based CCU technology at PT Petrokimia Gresik. According to him, this technology has the potential to capture more than 65% of CO2 from industrial flue gas and convert it into commercial products, such as soda ash and baking soda.
This project is the result of cooperation between the Ministry of Industry, Taiwanese company UWin Resources Regeneration Inc, and PT Petrokimia Gresik.
Kenny Hsu, Chief Researcher at Uwin Resources, is optimistic that the pilot project will provide accurate data and contribute significantly to achieving greenhouse gas emission targets. He emphasized that preliminary laboratory results show a CO2 emission reduction rate of more than 99%.
In addition to CCU, the Ministry of Industry is also exploring the use of microalgae as a carbon capture solution, which can be processed into biomass and other industrial raw materials, strengthening the national green industry downstream strategy.
Top priority
According to Paul Butarbutar, Head of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) Secretariat, the energy sector and heavy industry are key targets in the energy transition effort.
"Companies that produce carbon, mostly from steam power plants (PLTU)," he told SUAR (28/8/2025).
To reduce emissions, he encouraged the government and industry to switch to renewable energy. Paul also explained the important role of electrification in the industrial sector, especially for the steel industry. "If they use technology with lower energy consumption, for example using electrification in the steel and cement industries, it will certainly reduce emissions," he said.
He acknowledged that carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in Indonesia is still in the development stage and its utilization is limited to pilot projects.
Currently, the main focus of the government and industry players is on shifting to cleaner energy sources through electrification and hydrogen, while keeping a close eye on future developments in CCS technology.
