CRecTech and Pertamina NRE Sign JDA for End-to-End Bio-Methanol Value Chain

CRecTech and Pertamina New & Renewable Energy (Pertamina NRE) signed a Joint Development Agreement on 14 August 2026 to jointly develop a biogas-to-bio-methanol demonstration facility at the Sei Mangkei Special Economic Zone in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

The JDA advances the collaboration from the Memorandum of Understanding signed in April into project development. The planned facility, located at Pertamina NRE's existing Sei Mangkei biogas power plant, is designed to produce approximately 50 tonnes of bio-methanol per year from biogas generated by palm oil mill effluent.

The signing also anchors a wider Pertamina bio-methanol value chain. Pertamina NRE signed a Heads of Agreement with PT Pertamina Petrochemical Trading (Pertachem) to develop a domestic offtake pathway, and a Memorandum of Understanding with Pertamina International Marketing & Distribution (PIMD) to explore international marine-fuel supply and marketing opportunities.

Together, the three agreements connect waste biogas, bio-methanol production, domestic demand, and international markets. As CRecTech co-founder and CEO Dr. Lim Kang Hui wrote, the signing is not the finish line; it is where the real work begins.

The pilot will use CRecTech's CRecREF catalytic technology, which converts biogas into methanol in two stages instead of the conventional four-stage route. The simplified process has the potential to reduce production costs by up to 50 percent, supporting a more distributed and scalable model for converting Indonesia's waste-biogas resources into lower-carbon fuel and chemicals.

S&P Global reported that the pilot is targeted to begin operating in December 2026. PIMD is assessing Singapore as an initial reference market for Indonesia-produced bio-methanol following commercial scale-up, currently targeted for around 2028, while logistics, certification, environmental attributes, and future supply arrangements remain subjects for further study.

The domestic pathway is equally significant. Indonesia imports about two-thirds of its annual methanol requirement of nearly two million tonnes, and Pertachem is expected to receive output from the pilot while the parties develop a framework for potential longer-term domestic supply at commercial scale.

CRecTech has been working with Pertamina NRE, Black & Veatch, Shiva Engineering Services, and its wider ecosystem of partners to progress engineering, manufacturing, and deployment toward the planned Sei Mangkei pilot launch at the end of 2026.