Indonesian State Utility Launches Solar Tender

• PT PLN is seeking interested IPPs to enter a pre-qualification round it has launched to develop solar PV plants in the country
• It will use the final list of companies to invite them to bid for its future solar PV tenders
• The tender is open to Indonesian companies as well as those from countries with diplomatic relations with Indonesia

The state electricity utility of Indonesia, PT PLN (Persero) has launched a tender to pre-qualify interested bidders to develop solar PV power plants in the country. This tender round will allow it to empanel independent power producers (IPP) to its list of developers for solar PV plants which will be tendered by PLN in the future.

International law firm Baker McKenzie says this list of selected developers (DPT ) will be valid for a period of 3 years, which means the companies on this list will be eligible to be invited by the PLN to participate in its tenders that it will announce during this 3-year period.

As per the announcement by PLN, all participating companies should be incorporated within Indonesia or should be from nations that have a diplomatic relationship with the country. They need to have a financial credit rating report from D&B, S&P, Moody's or Fitch alone. They must also submit audited financial statements for the last 3 years to be eligible to apply.

PLN says it will conduct its evaluation process on a regular basis and the results with be announced via e-procurement. There is no last date to enter the tender.

Baker McKenzie sees the DPT invitations as being in line with the Indonesian government's push for renewables and calls this a 'welcome development'. Compared to the last prequalification process held by PLN in 2019 for a host of renewable energy technologies including PV, this round calls for submissions to be done electronically which, as the law firm remarked, makes it easier for international developers to participate in the prequalification process and future bids.

Under the country's National Energy Policy (KEN), Indonesia aims to reach a solar power generation target of 6.5 GW by 2025 and to 45 GW by 2050. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), till the end of 2019 Indonesia had installed around 198 MW of solar PV capacity, but remarkably adding 136 in 2019 itself compared to only 2 MW installed in 2018.

In keeping with its objective to have 23% of its electricity mix coming from renewables by 2025, Indonesia is also keen on exploiting over more than 600 lakes and reservoirs to generate floating solar PV. Abu Dhabi's Masdar is helping the Asian nation with its 1^st floating solar PV plant with 145 MW AC capacity (see 145 MW Floating Solar Plant In Indonesia Taking Shape).