- The 192 megawatt peak (MWp) floating solar power plant is a drive to increase renewable energy sources and switch away from coal.
- The plant is the world’s third largest floating solar plant and could be expanded up to 1,000MWp.
Indonesia’s President, Joko Widodo, has inaugurated a 192-megawatt peak (MWp) floating solar power plant on a reservoir in West Java province. This is part of a drive to increase renewable energy sources and switch away from coal. The 1.7 trillion rupiah ($108.70 million) project was developed by PLN Nusantara Power, a unit of Indonesia’s state utility company. Other companies involved in the project include Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) and United Arab Emirates renewable energy company Masdar, a unit of Mubadala Investment Company.
The president said, “I spoke with Minister of Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi from the UAE that this would be expanded to around 500 MWp. We hope more renewable energy could be developed in Indonesia.” The president added that solar power infrastructure was built on Cirata reservoir, 108 kilometres southeast of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. A hydropower plant at the dam has an installed capacity of about 1,008MWp.
The Chief Executive of PLN, Darmawan Prasodjo, stated the plant is the world’s third largest floating solar plant and could be expanded up to 1,000MWp. This is because the 13 arrays installed so far only occupied 4 per cent of the reservoir’s surface. Darmawan added that regulations permit the solar plant to utilise up to 20 per cent of the reservoir’s area, and discussions were underway with Mubadala for the next expansion phase.
Darmawan stated, “This is just the beginning. The president instructed us to maintain the momentum so that renewable energy development could be escalated.” Renewable energy accounted for 12.3 per cent of Indonesia’s energy mix in 2022, and Widodo said that the target of 23 per cent by 2025 would probably be missed. “It is not easy because there was the COVID-19 pandemic; we could not reach it. But we are committed to keep moving to achieve the target we promised,” he added.