Rabby Pramudatama, Jakarta – The government's highly touted program to convert official vehicles to natural gas from gasoline and diesel fuel is likely to miss all its targets this year.
Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Rudi Rubiandini said that the government was still in the process of procuring 15,000 conversion kits targeted for distribution this year.
The government, in partnership with state oil and gas company Pertamina, was also likely to miss a target to open 33 natural gas stations in Jakarta and Surabaya, East Java, this year, Rudi said.
"We are waiting for more conversion kits, which are still in the tender process by the ministry's directorate general for oil and gas. This is crucial," Rudi told reporters after Friday prayers at the ministry in Central Jakarta.
State-owned aerospace company PT Dirgantara Indonesia, which also manufactures non-aerospace products, could only supply 1,000 of the needed kits, which meant that the government would seek the remainder overseas, Rudi said.
Separately, Evita Herawati Legowo, who heads the oil and gas directorate, told The Jakarta Post on Friday that officials had just begun the tender process.
The government previously announced plans to distribute 25,000 conversion kits for official vehicles this year as part a program to reduce the nation's subsidized-fuel consumption by 300,000 kiloliters, which translates into an estimated Rp 1.5 trillion (US$163.5 million).
Rudi said that budget limits led the government to scale the target down to 15,000 conversion kits. He said the kits would be first installed, for free, on official and public transportation vehicles before the program was rolled out to private vehicle owners.
In June, three Italian firms – Faber Cylinders, Landi Renzo and BRC Gas Equipment – expressed interest in the procurement after the government implemented the conversion program.
Besides planning to provide conversion kits, the government also intends to build filling stations offering compressed-natural gas (CNG) and liquefied gas for vehicles (LGV).
Pertamina previously announced that it would open 30 CNG or LGV filling stations in Greater Jakarta and three in Surabaya. However, until now, there have only been 17 stations providing CNG and LGV in the cities.
Rudi said that Pertamina reported it would open one more online gas station in Jakarta by December, leaving the government 15 stations short of its target for 2012.
The gas station are divided into two categories. First are online filling stations that are connected by pipeline to a gas source, whether a well or floating storage and regasification units (FSRU). There are also "mother/daughter" filling stations that rely on tanker vehicles to deliver fuel from one gas reserve station to another.
Pertamina said in a recent statement that the company would spend up to Rp 2 trillion from the state budget to build needed infrastructure for the program this year.
The firm said it would start construction of five mother stations, nine daughter stations, 14 online stataion and revitalize six existing stations in 2012. The company has also committed to building four additional online filling stations in Jakarta.
The private sector has also been involved in the conversion program. The Association of CNG distributors (APCNG) has announced that association members would spend about Rp 3 trillion to set up the 200 gas stations with a combined capacity of 100 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD).
The Jakarta branch of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) lauded the government's plan. Organda members include taxi, minibus, bus and minivan operators.