Indonesia is set to get its first floating solar PV plant with a whopping 145 MW (AC) capacity. Abu Dhabi renewable energy company Masdar is backing the project. It is the Middle Eastern company's first floating solar power plant. The agreement for the project was signed in late 2017, and now Masdar has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with state electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) for the floating PV project (see 200 MW Floating PV Plant In Indonesia).
This project will also be the 'biggest' floating PV facility in all of Southeast Asia, claimed PLN President Director Zulkifli Zaini, adding, "The Cirata floating PV project is a monumental renewable energy project for Indonesia, and the biggest floating PV in South East Asia. It will improve the capability of the Jawa-Bali power system and also increase the renewable energy mix in Indonesia."
To be built on a 225-hectare plot of the 6,200-hectare Cirata Reservoir in West Java, the 145 MW floating solar project also marks the entry of Masdar into the Southeast Asian market – it develops the project with a subsidiary of PLN, PT Pembangkitan Jawa-Bali (PT PJB). Construction is likely to begin in early 2021 and the plant is expected to begin commercial operations in 2022.
An archipelago of over 17,000 islands, Indonesia has insufficient land to host utility scale solar power plants, hence the option to deploy floating PV panels for some 60 reservoirs seems like a good idea as the country targets to have 23% of its total energy mix by 2025 to comprise renewable energy, and scaling it up to 31% by 2030. End of 2018, it operated around 60 MW of RE capacity.
Indonesia is among 13 global markets to watch out for in 2020 for solar PV technology as it encourages floating solar and rooftop solar, according to Wood Mackenzie GTM (see 13 Promising Solar PV Markets Of 2020).