Palembang’s Waste-to-Power Trial Reaches the Grid

During the November 4 inspection in Palembang, the coordinating food affairs ministry reported that the new waste to power plant was already sending electricity into the PLN network. That is a milestone for a facility expected to handle a substantial share of the city’s waste. It also makes the remaining question more concrete: once testing ends, can the plant accept municipal loads reliably, sell electricity and get paid for the waste it treats? The ministry was still targeting December 8 for the start of commercial operations.

What the Plant Can Take

The facility in Kertapati was built under a build, own and operate arrangement. The November inspection release gives a design figure of 1,000 tons per day against city waste generation of about 1,261 tons per day. On those figures, the plant could take roughly four-fifths of what Palembang generates if it ran at design throughput and the city could deliver those loads. That is a comparison of design and estimated generation; the announcement does not establish what share the plant has actually treated. Another official account used 1,100 tons when describing waste brought by the city. The two numbers do not provide a measured daily average.

The environment ministry describes two moving grates rated at 500 tons per day each. The grates move and turn waste through the furnace as it dries and burns. Moisture makes a difference because some of the heat released must evaporate water before it can drive electricity production. In October the environment ministry said waste is held for several days to reduce moisture and that liquid draining from it would be treated. Those details put reception, storage and drainage alongside the furnace as things the operator must manage, particularly when the composition of incoming waste changes.

What Export During Testing Proves

The inspection release reports that trial electricity reached the PLN grid. That tells readers more than a construction percentage because some part of the generating and grid connection equipment has operated together. The ministry cited 17.7 MW as the initial design figure and discussed 18.6 MW and a possible 20 MW at peak. It did not provide a period of metered exports that would allow those figures to be read as sustained net production. The design rating describes the equipment. Output in megawatts describes power at a given moment; electricity supplied over a month would be measured in megawatt-hours. Those figures answer different questions.

For the waste service, a short successful run also leaves open what the facility can take on ordinary collection days, how it performs during outages and what happens to waste and residues when either grate is unavailable. A credible operating record would pair loads received and treated with downtime, environmental monitoring and electricity delivered to PLN. Following only the electrical figure would miss the public service for which the city pays.

The Unsettled Treatment Fee

The commissioning report identified a treatment fee of Rp400,000 per ton. For 2027, it said the city had allocated Rp90 billion and described a local contribution of Rp90,000 per ton. The ministry expected the remaining Rp310,000 per ton to be covered through central assistance via a nonphysical special allocation fund. The reported local allocation and the expected central support are at different stages. Electricity revenue also has a different basis from the fee: one follows power sales, while the other follows the waste treatment service.

That division explains why a connected plant can still face a difficult start to routine operations. Paying for each ton needs an agreed payer and a way to verify the quantity processed. The plant needs enough cash to keep accepting waste while it meets its electricity obligations. A municipality evaluating a similar facility would need to know how long both revenue arrangements last and who pays if commissioning or the transfer to a new contract takes longer than expected.

The Commercial Start Comes Before the Full Transition

Officials described a move from the rules under Presidential Regulation 35 of 2018 to the newer framework under Presidential Regulation 109 of 2025. The November release said the transition would proceed in parallel after commercial operation begins, taking account of restrictions on transferring shares before that point. It also identified work on a bridging agreement, due diligence by Danantara, and the legal arrangements for city-owned land and electrical assets. These are specific tasks with different owners. A successful grid trial does not complete any of them.

December 8 is therefore a target for one handover, from trial operation to commercial service. The change in regulation and the long-term financing have their own timetable. The clearest record of Palembang’s progress will show both the operating results after the plant starts and the executed agreements that say who pays for those results.