Jakarta. Pertamina New and Renewable Energy (NRE) became the only seller that made a transaction on the opening day of Indonesia’s first-ever carbon exchange.

Pertamina NRE is the sub-holding of the state-owned energy firm Pertamina, and is also the Pertamina Group’s carbon market aggregator. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Tuesday launched the Indonesia Carbon Exchange (IDX Carbon) to facilitate the trading of carbon credits. 

Pertamina NRE has carbon credits of up to 864,000 tCO2e which the company collected from the Lahendong Unit 5 and 6 geothermal power plant over 2016-2020. These carbon credits have also met the Environment Ministry’s standards.

The buyers at the exchange’s inaugural carbon trading were as follows: Bank Central Asia, Bank CIMB Niaga, Bank DBS Indonesia, Bank Mandiri, BNI Sekuritas, BRI Danareksa Sekuritas (part of Bank Rakyat Indonesia), CarbonX Bumi Harmoni, MMS Group Indonesia, Multi Optimal Riset dan Edukasi, Pamapersada Nusantara, Pelita Air Service, Pertamina Hulu Energi​, Pertamina Patra Niaga, Truclimate Dekarbonisasi Indonesia, and Udara Untuk Semua (Fairatmos).

“This marks a milestone for Pertamina as it is a testament to our commitment to expedite energy transition towards net zero emission,” Pertamina president director Nicke Widyawati was quoted as saying in a recent press statement.

Malaysia’s carbon exchange had to wait 3-4 months for the inaugural transaction at the bourse to take place.

“But we see all the units are sold out now. So the market responded positively,” Nicke said.

Pertamina NRE chief executive officer Dannif Danusaputro said that the carbon business had become the company’s strategy to reach net zero emissions. There are also other projects aside from the geothermal plant that are managed by our subsidiary Pertamina Geothermal Energy.

“In the medium term, we are developing nature and ecosystem-based solutions [NEBS]. One of them is through cooperation with Perhutani on nine forest concessions,” Dannif said.

Pertamina NRE also vowed to support sustainable development goals. ESG analytics firm Sustainalytics not long ago gave Pertamina NRE a score of 13. This rating falls under the “low-risk” category. Pertamina also ranks third globally among independent power producers and traders.