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In green push, Indonesia builds floating solar plants on its reservoir

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Indonesia has opened a floating solar plant in West Java, part of a plan to take advantage of its reservoirs to generate more renewable electricity.

President Joko Widodo was at a ceremony to mark the opening of the Cirata plant – about 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of the capital Jakarta – on Thursday.
Indonesia issued a rule in July allowing as much as 20 per cent of reservoir areas to be used for renewable energy generation.

“This is a historic day because our big dream of building a renewable energy project at large scale is finally realised,” he said.

The booster station and floating array of the Cirata floating solar plant. Photo: Xinhua

Floating solar is becoming increasingly popular as a clean energy solution for countries with a lack of available land, or in locations where onshore developments face opposition.

Cirata’s initial capacity is larger than currently operating sites in Southeast Asia, though bigger facilities are currently in development in nations including Malaysia and Vietnam, BNEF data show.

It is also smaller than existing floating solar plants elsewhere, including in China’s Anhui province.

Elsewhere in Indonesia, Sunseap Group has proposed a 2.2 gigawatt plant on a reservoir on Batam Island near Singapore, while Reposttren Holdings is planning a 2GW facility in West Java.

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Indonesia opens largest floating solar power plant in Southeast Asia as part of green push

Indonesia opens largest floating solar power plant in Southeast Asia as part of green push

Accelerating the energy transition has been a priority for the president, with Indonesia aiming for net zero emissions by 2060.

There are about 248 reservoirs in the country that could be used to develop floating solar power plants, translating to as much as 262GW of generation capacity, according to government estimates.

There are plans to expand the Cirata plant, operated by state-owned electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara and Masdar, owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, to 500 megawatts, which would be the maximum allowed under the 20 per cent rule.

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