Adaro Power vice president Dharma Djojonegoro said in Jakarta on Thursday that the project would include the development of 100-kilowatt peak (kWp) off-grid solar panels in five regencies in Papua under a joint venture with two companies, one of which is a Hong Kong-based corporation.

“We expect the project, still just a feasibility study, to be finished six to 12 months from now. We will install an off-grid solar panel for 10 to 15 villages, equivalent to around 300 to 500 households,” he told a press briefing.

In the project, Adaro holds 25 percent of the joint venture, with the remaining 75 percent held by two different companies.

“Once we have the proof of concept, including dealing with legal matters and the technicalities, we will scale it up for 10,000 to 20,000 households,” he said.

As every two houses will be powered by a single solar panel, the cost of electricity will be lower than those provided by diesel fuel generators.

Adaro Power’s first project — a 130-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant located at their port facility in Kelanis, Central Kalimantan — provides the facility with four to five hours of electricity.

“In six months, we plan to add a floating solar power plant near Kelanis Port. Though it won’t save much in terms of energy costs, it’s much lower than our diesel generators, which cost 20 to 30 US cents per kWh,” he said.

The second project for Adaro in renewable energy is a 6.5-megawatt hybrid off-grid power plant project that combines biomass and solar power and utilizes a battery storage unit on Paku and Umbele Morowali, two islands in Central Sulawesi.

The renewable energy project was launched under a joint venture scheme with French electricity company Électricité de France (EDF).

Dharma said the company’s venture into green energy about two years ago had shown that solar panel-based energy was the most viable form of investment, especially for an archipelagic nation.

“It’s been years since we’ve taken a deep look into renewable energy, despite our existing assets at coal-fired steam power plants [PLTUs]. Energy from solar panels is the most viable option, but there are still issues in the price and technicalities,” he said.

At present, the company has two PLTU projects, namely a 200-MW PLTU in Tabalong, South Kalimantan, and a 2,000-MW PLTU in Batang, Central Java, which are expected to operate in July and December 2020 respectively.

Making strides in the power business is part of Adaro Group’s mission to diversify by expanding from only the mining business to power, logistics and services, Adaro Energy spokeswoman Febriati Nadira said.

“As of 2018, our nonmining sectors only contributed 20 percent to the firm’s EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization]. In the future we want to balance the contributions [from different sectors],” she said.

Previously, Adaro Energy president director Garibaldi “Boy” Thohir said in a press conference that the company would take a conservative approach on renewable energy.

“Of course we are open, but now we’re unwilling to go further [in renewable energy]. We have taken the conservative route, investing only after we are sure about it […],” he said.

However, Boy acknowledged the importance of investing in cleaner energy and predicted that the coal power business would present challenges “15 to 20 years” from now.

Popular

Malaysia says China ready to sign SEA nuclear weapons-free treaty

Solving the development crisis with quality finance

Uncertainty looms over northern Bali airport project