TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Sun Cable, energy ministry join hands to fast track inter-island grid connectivity
Change Size
A worker dusts the 600 kWp solar power plant at Gili Trawangan island in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, pictured in this undated photograph. (PLN/PLN)
T
he government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with energy company Sun Cable to accelerate the development of inter-island grid connectivity and technical programs that will add up to US$115 billion to Indonesia’s GDP by 2035.
Linking Indonesia’s archipelago using subsea transmission corridors is deemed crucial for network interconnections that will enable the development of renewables and distribute electricity to industrial demand centers.
The agreement, which was signed by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and Sun Cable, was an important step for the government to learn from the company’s expertise in solar energy generation and long-distance transmission as the country shapes its policy and technical approach to inter-island connectivity, said Sun Cable CEO David Griffin.
Sun Cable is an Australian-Singaporean company backed by billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest.
Read also: South Korea to help PLN install submarine power cables
“Energy infrastructure is very important to connect the centers of great energy production to centers of high energy consumption,” Energy Minister Arifin Tasrif said in the same statement released on Wednesday. “Thus, Indonesia is planning to build a super grid to address a mismatch between renewable energy resources and the location of areas of high electricity demand.”
Renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar, have intermittent characteristics that are likely to change the way electricity is supplied by the grid operator. Improving grid capacity, which involves both technical capacity and human capital, is crucial to accelerating the deployment of renewable energy technologies.
