Indonesian President Joko Widodo, a few months ago in November 2023, inaugurated the ambitious Cirata Floating solar farm with a capacity of 192 MWp, the largest in Southeast Asia. The Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is now all set to develop more similar projects, utilizing surface water landscapes spread throughout Indonesia, the Indonesian government said in a media release.
“We have also inaugurated in 2023 the Floating PLTS, which some time ago we inaugurated in Cirata, we will redevelop projects like this. There is indeed a lot of surface water in our country that we can use, which we can optimize to be able to produce energy,” said Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif, when delivering the performance achievements in 2023 and the 2024 program, in his office, Monday (15/1) yesterday.
Cirata Floating PLTS, which in its construction involves 1,400 local workers and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) around the project, has a reasonably cheap BPP, which is USD5.8 cent/kWh.
“This tariff is quite competitive, but with the current trend, we expect this price to be cheaper. This floating solar power plant is the largest in Southeast Asia, reducing emissions can reach 214,000 tons of CO2 per year, then it can produce green energy of more than 200 million kilowatt hours capable of electrifying 50,000 homes, “said Arifin.
In addition to PLTS Atap, Indonesia also has the potential to develop Floating PLTS, which can be built on lakes and dams in around 325 locations in Indonesia. Citing data on the number of dams owned by the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR), Floating PLTS can be developed in 259 dam locations with a potential capacity of 14,701.71 MW and in 18 locations of Hydro/Micro/Microhydro Power Plants (PLTA/M/MH) with a potential capacity of up to 446.1 MW.
Then, by citing data on the number of lakes owned by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Floating PLTS can also be built on 36 lake locations, with a potential electricity capacity of 74,665.25 MW. In addition, there is also the potential for Floating PLTS as much as 1,806.89 MW which can be built in 12 hydropower / MH locations. The calculation of the potential electricity that can be generated based on PUPR Minister Regulation Number 7 of 2023 concerning Dams, namely 20 percent of the reservoir area is flooded.
“There are 36 potential floating solar power plants in the lake, we have a potential utilization of 74.6 GW. Then there are hydropower and micro-hydro in 12 locations, this can be 1.8 GW, well we optimize this. Then also in the dams there are 259 locations that can be 14.7 GW. Then also the potential of hydropower in these dams that can produce approximately 450 MW which should be our concern which can indeed go directly into the mix,” added Arifin. (DKD)
