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UAE’s Masdar to support development of Indonesia's largest solar power plant
Once fully operational at 145 MW, Cirata will be Indonesia’s largest solar power plant, taking over the title from the existing 15 MW Likupang plant in North Sulawesi.
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A 10-meter long solar photovoltaic (PV) produces electricity for the 90 families that live on Genting Island, one of 27 small islands in Karimunjawa Islands district in Jepara, Central Java. (JP/Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman)
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tate electricity company PLN’s unit Pembangkitan Jawa Bali (PJB) is looking to begin construction of the $129 million Cirata floating solar power plant in West Java next year with support from Abu Dhabi-based renewables firm Masdar.
The companies will kick off development of the 145 megawatt (MW) Cirata floating solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant next week, when PLN signs a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Masdar, said PLN strategic procurement 1 director Sripeni Inten Cahyani.
“After signing the PPA, we aim to reach a financial close within a year. So by early 2021, we can begin construction,” Sripeni told reporters on Tuesday.
Once fully operational at 145 MW, Cirata will be Indonesia’s largest solar power plant, taking over the title from the existing 15 MW Likupang plant in North Sulawesi. The project will help boost renewable energy development in Indonesia, which is high on the agenda of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.
Indonesia has set a target to have renewable energy account for 23 percent of the country’s energy mix, while the Indonesian Renewable Energy Society (METI) estimates that renewable energy will contribute around 9 percent to the energy mix in 2019.
In its first stage of development, the Cirata plant will have a capacity of 50 MW, Sripeni said. PJB aims to increase the capacity to 145 MW by 2022. She also said PLN would pay 5.8 US cents per kilowatt hour (kwH) of the plant’s electricity.
PLN and Masdar signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop the Cirata plant in 2017. Initially the plant had an estimated potential of 200 MW and a valuation of $300 million. However, PLN had to revise the MoU after the government abruptly changed a regulation over the appointment of power plant developers.
