- Sunseap and BT Batam have signed a MoU to build a floating solar power plant in Indonesia
- It will have 2.2 GW PV capacity and will be accompanied by over 4,000 MWh ESS capacity
- Project is likely to come online in 2024 after construction behind5 MW in 2022 on Indonesia’s largest reservoir, Duriangkang Reservoir
- Power generated will be used for industrial decarbonization on Batam Island and also exported to Singapore through subsea cable
In July 2019, South Korean Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy approved what was then touted as the largest floating solar PV plant globally with 2.1 GW capacity, for Saemangeum Lake (see South Korea Announces 2.1 GW Floating Solar Project).
Now, Indonesia has gone a step ahead announcing a 2.2 GW floating PV project in the country on Batam Island. Singaporean solar power company Sunseap Group said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Batam Indonesia Free Zone Authority (BP Batam) to build the project, claiming it to be the ‘largest’ floating PV project in the world to-date.
The $2 billion project will comprise energy storage system (ESS) with more than 4,000 MWh capacity. It will be built on the country’s largest Duriangkang Reservoir on Batam Island of Indonesia on 1,600 hectares space. This reservoir was originally a saltwater bay, but now supports more than 50% of the island’s fresh water supply as it holds a volume of 101.2 million m3.
On completion, the project is expected to generate more than 2,600 GWh annually of which a part will be consumed within Batam with potential to export the remaining capacity to Singapore via a subsea cable.
To be financed with help from banks and internal resources, the project is expected to reduce carbon footprint of industries operating on Batam Island, while creating jobs and boosting its clean energy sector, according to the BP Batam Chairman Muhammad Rudi.
Sunseap said it plans to set up a Sunseap Academy on the island to hire and train more than 3,000 locals to build the project. It plans to start construction on site in 2022, and complete it in 2024.
There is another large scale floating solar power plant planned for Indonesia with 145 MW AC capacity which is being developed by a joint venture of Masdar and PT PJBI in West Java (see Joint Venture For Indonesia Floating PV Plant).
For Sunseap this ‘hyperscale’ project comes soon after it set up a 5 MW offshore floating solar power project in Singapore on the Straits of Johor for which Facebook entered a virtual power purchase agreement (PPA) in April 2021 (see Floating Solar Power For Facebook In Singapore).
Floating solar power projects while stopping water evaporation also keep the panels cool, but the most important aspect is that it enables to overcome land constraints to set up solar power projects. Recently, Sembcorp Industries commissioned Singapore’s largest floating solar project with 60 MW capacity using Trina Solar’s 210mm wafer sized solar modules (see 60 MW Floating Solar System Online In Singapore).
