B50 enters its final distribution stretch as bioethanol preparation begins

A Sunday evening report at Hambalang

On Sunday evening, 9 August 2026, the president director of PT Pertamina (Persero), Simon Aloysius Mantiri, travelled to President Prabowo Subianto's residence in Hambalang, Bogor Regency, West Java, to deliver a progress report on the mandatory B50 biodiesel programme. Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, who was present, summarised the substance of the meeting in a statement carried by Indonesian outlets on Monday morning, 10 August.

The Pertamina president director reported on the progress of the mandatory B50 programme launched by the President in July, along with the readiness of infrastructure in the preparatory stage of the government's bioethanol mandate.

Two things are worth noting about that summary. The first is that a fuel blending mandate is now being reviewed at the level of the head of state rather than left entirely to the ministry and the operator. The second is that B50 and bioethanol were reported together, which suggests the government is treating liquid biofuels as one continuous programme of work rather than as separate campaigns. The same meeting produced a directive to reduce organisational layers and the number of subsidiaries at Pertamina, PLN and other state enterprises, with the stated aim of faster decision making and higher productivity.

The distribution numbers behind the mandate

Indonesia began mandatory B50 on 1 July 2026, becoming the first country to require a fifty percent palm based blend in diesel fuel. The policy follows a decade of stepwise increases through B30, B35 and B40, and it was designed with a transition period rather than a hard cutover. Fuel businesses holding B40 stock may distribute it until 30 September 2026, and a comprehensive evaluation is scheduled for December.

The rollout is being measured station by station. In early July the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Bahlil Lahadalia, reported that 3,696 of 6,412 biosolar fuel stations were distributing B50, or 57.6 percent, with 2,716 still on B40. On the terminal side, 44 of 121 fuel terminals were handling B50 at that point. By 20 July the Director General of New and Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation, Eniya Listiani Dewi, put national distribution at 67 percent, although ANTARA reported the figure as 57 percent on the same day. The discrepancy is worth flagging rather than smoothing over, and it most likely reflects two different denominators, one counting fuel stations and the other counting diesel volume.

My target is that by 1 October, B50 is fully distributed at every point.

That target sits inside a large physical system. National biodiesel demand is set at a range of 16 to 18 million kilolitres per year, and Pertamina handles roughly 80 percent of fuel distribution, which makes the company's terminal and blending network the practical constraint on the pace of coverage.

Coverage is uneven, and that is the useful detail

The regional breakdown from early July is the most instructive part of the public record. West Java stood at 96.1 percent, or 942 of 980 stations. Central Java was close behind at 95.1 percent, or 860 of 904. The East Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara grouping reached 73.3 percent, or 933 of 1,272. North Sumatra was at 63.6 percent, or 625 of 982. Kalimantan stood at 3 percent, or 18 of 609 stations.

Read constructively, that pattern is a logistics map rather than a performance ranking. Coverage is highest where blending facilities, terminals and road access are densest, and lowest where fuel moves long distances by sea and river before it reaches a forecourt. The gap between Java and Kalimantan is a statement about terminal capacity and shipping schedules, and it points to where the remaining investment and sequencing attention should go between now and October.

Physical delivery has been building in parallel. Pertamina Patra Niaga recorded its first B50 liftings in late July, with 4,600 kilolitres moved from the Kasim refinery in Sorong, West Papua, to the vessel MT Krasak on 18 July, and 8,230 kilolitres from the Plaju refinery in South Sumatra to Integrated Terminal Palembang on 22 July. Kitty Andhora, vice president of corporate communication at Pertamina Patra Niaga, described the liftings as a milestone in strengthening national energy independence.

What the field checks are showing

Policy of this kind stands or falls on what happens at the pump. On Friday 31 July, Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Yuliot visited fuel station 14.227.322 in Sipirok District, South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra, to check supply availability and hear from users directly. Nainggolan, a 47 year old driver who hauls salted fish, said his engine ran without problems on B50. Herwin Siregar, who has driven the Medan to Sipahutar public transport route for eight years, described daily fuel spending of about Rp450,000 for six hour trips and reported no safety concerns with his vehicle.

These are individual accounts rather than a fleet study, and they should be read as such. Their value is that the ministry is collecting them in the field during the transition window, which is when engine compatibility questions are cheapest to answer.

Bioethanol moves from policy into plumbing

The second half of the Hambalang report concerned bioethanol. The government has set 2027 for the start of a mandatory E10 blend in gasoline, with higher blends to follow later in the decade. The gap between that target and current capacity is significant. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources counts three fuel grade bioethanol plants, in Lampung and East Java, with combined production capacity of about 60,000 kilolitres.

Pertamina's preparatory work is therefore infrastructure work. The company has been readying blending facilities, fuel terminals and distribution capability for an E5 to E20 range, and it already sells Pertamax Green 95, a five percent ethanol blend, at 177 fuel stations across Java. It is also involved in bioethanol development at the Glenmore sugar mill complex in Banyuwangi, East Java, with annual capacity of 30,000 kilolitres, and has made land available for a bioethanol ecosystem in Lampung. Muhammad Baron, vice president of corporate communication at Pertamina, has described the preparation as covering blending infrastructure, fuel terminals and distribution facilities.

Sirkularium's view

For government and public institutions, three practical points follow.

First, the remaining B50 work is a distribution and terminal problem, not a policy problem. The mandate is set and the fuel is moving. What determines whether 1 October is met is terminal readiness and shipping capacity in Kalimantan and eastern Indonesia. Provincial governments and port authorities in those regions have a specific and time bound contribution to make, and it is a supporting role that can be planned now.

Second, the projected benefits give the programme a clear scoreboard. The government expects B50 to avoid 44.46 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2026, save about Rp170 trillion in foreign exchange, and support around 2.1 million jobs. Those are projections rather than audited outcomes. The December evaluation is the moment to convert them into measured figures, and building that measurement now, with consistent definitions for the coverage percentage, will make the next mandate easier to manage.

Third, the bioethanol timeline is where anticipatory planning pays. Reaching E10 in 2027 from roughly 60,000 kilolitres of fuel grade capacity requires feedstock agreements, plant permits and terminal upgrades that are decided well before the mandate date. The B50 experience offers a usable template: a staged transition, a published target date, field verification during the window, and a scheduled evaluation.

What to watch next is the coverage figure for Kalimantan and eastern Indonesia through September, the December B50 evaluation, and the first regulatory detail on how E10 will be phased in during 2027.