Tunas Sawa Erma (TSE) Group, a company engaged in the palm oil sector, is building the first biogas plant in South Papua as part of an effort to reduce carbon emissions and support the green energy transition. 

TSE Group Director, Luwy Leunufna, said the initial investment in building a biogas plant is huge, but in the long term it will reduce the use of fuel oil in plantation and factory operations. 

"With the development of a Biogas Power Plant connected to BioCNG, the benefits will be felt by both the company and the environment," Luwy said in astatement as quoted on Friday, March 7, 2025. 

This biogas facility was built with an investment of US$3.6 million. This plant processes palm oil liquid waste or Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) into renewable energy. Having two biogas tanks with a capacity of 7,800 cubic meters, this facility is capable of producing 2 MW of electricity, which will be used for the operation of the Palm Kernel Crushing Plant and other activities. 

The operation of this biogas plant is projected to reduce emissions by up to 60,708 tons of CO2 per year compared to a system without a biogas facility. 

"This initiative is in line with the Paris Agreement that has been ratified by Indonesia, where we are committed to voluntarily reducing carbon emissions in order to keep the global temperature increase below 2 degrees of Celsius," Luwy said. 

TSE Group is also implementing various other strategies in decarbonization efforts, such as replacing oil-fueled heavy equipment with electric vehicles (EVs), increasing the use of biodiesel from B30 to B40 and B50 in accordance with government regulations, and developing solar panels. 

Based in Papua, TSE Group consists of five companies, namely PT Tunas Sawa Erma, PT Berkat Cipta Abadi, PT Dongin Prabhawa, PT Papua Agro Lestari, and PT Gelora Mandiri Membangun. 

TSE Group started its palm oil business in Papua in 1998 at the request of the local government. Although infrastructure in the region was still minimal at that time, the company managed to develop its business and became the first to contribute to the construction of the Trans-Papua Road, a strategic route that now connects various regions in Papua. As it developed, in 2012, TSE Group expanded its palm oil business to Halmahera. 

Soon this Biogas Power Plant will be inaugurated. In the future, TSE Group plans to build biogas facilities in five other locations in stages.