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s many as 115 solar power plants being built across the country this year are expected to begin commercial operations in the first quarter of next year, state electricity company PT PLN’s senior executive has said.

The company’s planning and technology director Nasri Sebayang announced that once PLN has completed the development of the 115 power plants, it would go ahead with its plan to build solar power plants on 1,000 other small islands.

“We hope by October this year that all projects will enter the construction phase, and we aim to have all power plants operating within the first quarter of 2012. As of today, there are six power plants that have started operating in six tourist locations,” he told reporters via text message.

The six locations are Bunaken in North Sulawesi; Wakatobi and Tomiya in Southeast Sulawesi; Banda in Maluku; Raja Ampat in Papua; and Derawan in East Kalimantan.

PLN’s head of its new and renewable energy division, Muhammad Sofyan, revealed that in six locations the solar power plant projects had already entered the construction phase, while in 20 other locations, the tender processes had begun.

“One power plant has begun operating in Miangas, North Sulawesi,” he said.

Vickner Sinaga, PLN’s operations director for eastern Indonesia, previously confirmed in order to fund the 100 solar power plants program, the company needed to invest around Rp 9 billion (US$978,792) to construct power plants on each island, requiring a total investment of Rp 900 billion.

The solar power plants are designed to have a total capacity of 18,150 kilowatt-peak units (kWp). Power plants will be built in five locations in Papua with a total capacity of 300 kWp; 18 locations in West Papua (1,350 kWp); 18 locations in Maluku (2,300 kWp); 18 locations in North Maluku (2,400 kWp); 11 locations in East Nusa Tenggara (2,200 kWp); and 10 locations in West Nusa Tenggara (2,300 kWp).

The power plants in the next phase will be established in eight locations in South Sulawesi with a total capacity of 1,850 kWp); two locations in Southeast Sulawesi (600 kWp); 15 locations in North Sulawesi (2,450 kWp); five locations in Central Sulawesi (700 kWp); and five locations in South Sulawesi (1,700 kWp).

The power plants are designed to supply power to 30,000 new customers, with each individual plant capable of supplying around 300 customers.

As of today, there are 50 solar power plants operating in the country, all of which were built outside the parameters of the ongoing projects. Besides the six tourist area plants, 15 plants operate in Papua and West Papua with a total combined capacity of 4,500 kWp, supplying electricity to 6,000 customers.

The electricity produced by the power plants is sold at a price of Rp 660 per kilowatt per hour (kWh), although their production costs amount to Rp 4,800 per kWh.

PLN also aims to install solar panels for 340,000 new customers in eastern Indonesia this year, with a total investment of around Rp 1.2 trillion.