A floating Solar Power Plant (PLTS) in Cirata Reservoir, West Java will soon be constructed with an investment value of IDR 1 trillion.
Previously, this project was one of eleven business agreements by President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi January, 2020.
Meanwhile, PLTS Cirata Reservoir has reached a financial close agreement since August 2, 2021 through a syndication of three international banks such as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Société Général, and Standard Chartered Bank, with an agreed value of US$ 140 million.
In addition, PLTS will be built over the Cirata Reservoir area. Cirata Reservoir is the largest hydroelectric power plant (PLTA) in Indonesia and number two in ASEAN. This hydropower plant was built in 1982-1987 which dammed the Citarum and Cisokan rivers with an area of 43,777.6 ha.
Cooperation between Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates
This project is the largest floating PLTS in the Southeast Asia region, which will be run by the collaboration of a consortium subsidiary of the State Power Plant (PLN) Pembangkitan Jawa-Bali (PJB) (51%) and a company from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Masdar (49%) the collaboration will be under the name Pembangkitan Jawa- Bali Masdar Solar Energy (PMSE).
Ridwan Kamil stated that the investment value of this floating PLTS reached more than IDR 1 trillion. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) said, the project will cost about IDR 18.8 billion.
“A total of IDR 1.7 trillion is floating on the water,” he said, on August 12, 2023.
The largest in ASEAN
It is planned that this project will be inaugurated by President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo at the end of next October. This project is said to be the largest in ASEAN.
“The most advanced solar power plant,” he added.
This project will have a capacity of up to 145 MW of electricity with an area of approximately 9 ha, or 3% of the total area (86.247 ha). He claimed that there would be as many as 900 local residents of Purwakarta who would be involved in this project.
Furthermore, Ridwan said that as much as 36% of all electricity in West Java Province will come from the mix of renewable energy generators. Even so, the renewable energy mix at the national level has only reached 13%.
“Electricity from hydro, solar, wind and geothermal power will be a priority in West Java, in order to fight the global warming crisis,” he said.
Meanwhile, this PLTS has advantages in floating photovoltaic (PV) systems and has become a world trend because it is a revolution in domestic NRE development by offsetting 214,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, not using land, complementing hydropower, reducing evaporation, and increasing energy output by up to 10 % due to lower ambient temperature. And can be an example of the development of PLTS on top of reservoirs in other areas.
