D

utch consortium Tidal Bridge BV is set to construct the world’s biggest tidal power plant in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), along with a floating bridge, a project that is expected to cost US$200 million in its initial phase.

Made up construction engineering company Strukton International and private equity firm Dutch Expansion Capital (DEC), the consortium will team up with PT Pembangkitan Jawa Bali (PJB), a subsidiary of state-owned electricity firm PLN, to establish a joint venture called Tidal Bridge Indonesia (TBI) and set up Indonesia’s first tidal energy facility.

TBI will first build the Pancasila Palmerah Bridge spanning 810 meters from Flores Island to Adonara Island, which will later be integrated with five tidal turbines on the Larantuka Strait in East Flores regency.

Each turbine will have an installed capacity of 16 megawatts (MW), while the actual electricity generated will only reach 6 MW, resulting in a combined power generation of 30 MW.

“This facility will be the biggest of its kind in the world, even if it only generates 20 MW of electricity,” Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said in a statement on Saturday following a visit to the project site.

At present, the world’s biggest tidal power plant is the Sihwa Lake station in South Korea. Controlled by the Korea Water Resources Corporation, it has an output capacity of 254 MW.

The tidal power project in NTT is a follow-up to a heads of agreement (HoA) between Tidal Bridge BV, the Public Works and Housing Ministry and NTT provincial administration, signed during President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s visit to the Netherlands on April 22, 2016.

The ministry completed a pre-feasibility study for the national strategic project last year.

The company, meanwhile, also sealed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with PLN on
Feb. 22 to conduct a feasibility study and a connection impact assessment to review the use of tidal power in the latter’s electricity system.

After completing the first development phase of the tidal power project, Tidal Bridge BV plans to increase the plant’s capacity to between 90 MW and 115 MW, with a goal to provide enough power for half a million people.

According to a statement released in May last year, the bridge and power plant would have a direct impact on the area’s fishery and agro-culture sector, while also boosting tourism.

Aside from the Larantuka Strait, Indonesia still has huge tidal power potential in other regions, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s energy conservation and renewable energy director general, Rida Mulyana.

“We still have a lot more straits that [...] deserve to be developed,” he added.

Several institutions, including the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), Surabaya’s 10 November Institute of Technology (ITS) in East Java and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), have started studying the types of technology most suitable to exploit Indonesia’s tidal power potential.

Local firm PT Arus Indonesia Raya, in collaboration with France-based Naval Energies, has carried out studies in 10 locations to develop the sector.

In its latest electricity procurement business plan (RUPTL) for the 2018-2027 period, PLN envisions the development of renewable power plants with a total capacity of 14,911 MW. Of the figure, 8,283 MW will come from hydro and mini-hydro power plants.

However, Indonesia’s sole electricity offtaker has yet to include tidal power facilities in the business plan.