Ashish Bhandari, CEO of Thermax, said that the company had previously disbursed US$25 million (Rp408.3 billion) to build a factory in Cilegon, Banten.

The factory will produce several products such as packaged boilers, heaters, coolers, steam accessories, water and wastewater treatment, and air pollution control equipment.

"We are able to increase this investment up to 3 times, 4 times in the next few decades," Ashish said on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.

He said that increasing investment could go hand in hand with the company's technological innovation which would continue to develop in the near future.

Thermax currently has three areas that have the potential to support Indonesia in facing the challenges of climate change and protecting the environment from the energy sector.

First, technology related to the processing of bioenergy and bioethanol Indonesia. Indonesia is one of the countries with abundant natural resources and agricultural waste production and municipal waste has great potential in converting waste into affordable and sustainable energy sources.

Thermax develops technology that enables the conversion of biomass into energy in the form of steam, electricity, or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

This technology allows the use of biomass to produce ethanol that is blended with gasoline, replacing most of the diesel fuel use with biodiesel.

“There are other technologies, and Thermax makes some of them, that can turn this biomass into ethanol, which can be blended into gasoline,” Ashish said.

Second, energy recycling technology. Thermax has technology that utilizes heat from the energy industry that can be reused. For example, Thermax has implemented technology that can capture waste heat from palm oil mills and use it for cooling or heating needs.

“Converting this waste heat, giving it back as energy, is the technology that Thermax plays a role in,” he said.

Third, hydrogen and carbon capture technology. Thermax develops technology in the field of hydrogen and carbon capture. The development of this technology is one of the main alternatives in reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, carbon capture technology plays an important role in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change.

Ashish said the three technologies were implemented to provide solutions and support Indonesia in achieving the Net Zero Emission (NZE) target by 2060.

"Indonesia is one of the fastest growing countries in the world with significant energy needs. Balancing energy growth with energy sustainability requires solutions," he concluded.