Indonesia's Largest CO2 Liquefaction Plant Starts Up in Bontang

PT Kaltim Parna Industri has commissioned a 300-ton-per-day liquid carbon dioxide facility in Bontang, East Kalimantan — the largest CO2 liquefaction plant operating in Indonesia and the first commercial-scale unit of its kind in Kalimantan.

The plant can supply up to 109,500 tons of LCO2 per year. It captures byproduct CO2 off-gas from KPI's primary ammonia synthesis loop, purifies it, and liquefies it for merchant sale.

EPC contractor PT Tripatra Engineers and Constructors engineered and delivered the facility. KPI formally brought it into commercial service following an inauguration ceremony at its Bontang manufacturing hub.

What does the plant actually process?

The feedstock is off-gas from hydrogen reforming in conventional ammonia synthesis — a point-source stream that, until now, had no dedicated merchant outlet in Kalimantan or Eastern Indonesia. The Bontang unit is the first dedicated merchant LCO2 production capacity across that region.

At nameplate, the plant converts a fertilizer byproduct into a saleable commodity. That is carbon capture and utilization in its most literal form: capture at the stack, monetization at the gate.

The takeaway: the project turns waste off-gas into 109,500 tons per year of merchant product.

Where does the CO2 go?

The purified product stream is designated for merchant industrial offtake, including:

• carbonation for food and beverage applications;
• cryogenic food preservation;
• specialized chemical manufacturing.

KPI targets domestic and regional supply chains across Indonesia and neighboring markets. The development also aligns with the state-backed ambition to position Indonesia as a regional hub for low-carbon chemical manufacturing.

How does it fit Indonesia's ammonia targets?

The plant operates within a larger decarbonization program across Southeast Asia's fertilizer sector. State fertilizer producer PT Pupuk Indonesia has set targets of:

• 2.15 million tons per year of blue ammonia by 2030;
• 990,000 tons per year of green ammonia by 2030;
• 7 million tons of conventional grey capacity alongside the low-carbon streams.

The Bontang LCO2 unit is a downpayment on that agenda rather than its fulfillment. Liquefying byproduct CO2 monetizes an existing emission stream; it does not yet touch the grey ammonia backbone that Pupuk Indonesia intends to keep running at 7 million tons per year.

Alongside the CCU operations, KPI is advancing upstream feasibility studies with engineering firm NextChem. The subject: a 300-tpd renewable green ammonia plant powered by local hydroelectricity at the Bontang complex. That study, not the LCO2 startup, will determine whether Bontang moves from utilization to genuine production decarbonization.

What to watch next

Two numbers now frame the Bontang story: 109,500 tons of annual LCO2 capacity, delivered, and a 300-tpd green ammonia plant that exists only on paper. The milestone that decides the site's trajectory is the NextChem feasibility outcome.