03/08/2026
Indonesia's first Landfill Gas-to-Hydrogen pilot project took a significant step forward. GGGI Indonesia joined the Directorate General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE), Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), alongside government, industry, academia, and development partners, for the final Focus Group Discussion on the Landfill Gas-to-Hydrogen Pilot Feasibility Study at the Sarimukti landfill in West Java, this initiative is funded by the The Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Korea.
The study, part of the Sustainable Biohydrogen Production and Application in Indonesia program, supported by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Republic of Korea, set out to determine whether a pilot project capturing landfill gas and converting it into low-carbon hydrogen could move from concept toward a bankable investment. Last weekβs discussion validated that ambition while sharpening the conditions and creating enabling ecosystem is needed to realize it.
The opportunity extends beyond a single landfill. With more than 500 landfill sites across Indonesia continuously emitting methane and other harmful emissions, converting landfill gas into a productive resource could offer a pathway to address both waste and climate challenges. At Sarimukti, the project is estimated to mitigate approximately 58,000 tonnes of COβ equivalent annually while producing up to 1 tonne of green hydrogen per day.
Participants examined where the project still requires resolution. Long-term landfill gas resource availability has been identified as a critical factor and depends on continued waste allocation and future landfill development. Regulatory responsibility for an integrated waste-to-hydrogen value chain currently sits across multiple ministries and agencies, making a coordinated framework a near-term institutional priority. Major demand site interventions across industrial, fertilizer, and transport sector, are required to enhance offtake and create vibrant market for low-carbon hydrogen. The discussion also underscored the importance of addressing social and livelihood implications for the landfill's informal waste-picking community, with clear, funded, and accountable safeguard arrangements identified as a precondition for social acceptance.
Taken together, the findings position the Sarimukti pilot not as an end in itself, but as a catalyst intended to generate the regulatory, technical, and financial evidence that can unlock future low-carbon hydrogen investment across Indonesia.
