Danantara breaks ground on Bali waste-to-energy plant

Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA) - Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund, Danantara Indonesia, has broken ground on a Rp3 trillion waste-to-energy (PSEL) plant in Bali on Wednesday, marking the first project under its national waste-management initiative.

Located in Pedungan Village, Denpasar, the facility is designed to address acute regional waste issues by converting refuse into electricity using proven international technologies.

The project follows a fast-tracked directive from Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to resolve the country's mounting waste crisis without triggering adverse environmental impacts.

To deliver the project, Danantara's subsidiaries, PT Danantara Investment Management (DIM) and PT Daya Energi Bersih Nusantara (Denera), selected a processing technology currently utilized in 50 countries.

"This morning is a very historic day for us, as this marks the first-ever groundbreaking for the Danantara Waste-to-Energy program here in Bali," said Rosan Roeslani, CEO of Danantara Indonesia, during the ceremony in Denpasar on Wednesday.

Roeslani noted that the selected technology can process both fresh and legacy landfill waste seamlessly, pointing to successful implementations he observed in East Asia.

"When I visited several sites in China and Japan, these facilities were incredibly clean," Roeslani said. "In China, one plant is situated right in the middle of an elite residential area because it is completely odorless. They even built a reading garden and a children's recreation park behind it."

The facility will serve the high-density agglomeration of Denpasar and Badung.

Scheduled to begin operations in early 2028, the plant will process 1,500 tons of waste per day, totaling over 500,000 tons annually, or effectively absorbing more than 40 percent of Bali's total waste generation.

According to Pandu Patria Sjahrir, CEO of PT DIM, the project adhered to rigorous technical, legal, financial, and environmental vetting. The plant is engineered to meet strict European Union Industrial Emissions Directive (EU IED) standards.

Environmental projections indicate the plant will reduce landfill-related emissions by up to 80 percent and cut carbon emissions by 640,000 tons of CO2 per year. Furthermore, it will shrink required landfill acreage by 80 percent.

"From an energy perspective, this initiative will generate green electricity capable of supplying approximately 100,000 homes in Bali," Sjahrir said, adding that the Rp3 trillion (around US$187.5 million) investment is also expected to create 1,200 green jobs for the local economy.

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Translator: Ni Putu Putri Muliantari, Aditya Eko Sigit Wicakso

Editor: Arie Novarina

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