State-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) is constructing Indonesia’s first floating solar plant

In Indonesia’s mission to embrace renewable energy, one project stands out as the national symbol of green ambitions. Plans for a $129 million, 145MW floating solar power plant, the first of its kind in Indonesia, were inked between PT PLN and Abu Dhabi’s Masdar this January, one of the many deals signed during President Joko Widodo’s landmark UAE visit.

“The Cirata floating photovoltaic (PV) project is a monumental renewable energy project for Indonesia. It will be one of the biggest floating PV plants in Southeast Asia,” says Zulkifli Zaini, President Director of PT PLN. “It will improve the capability of the Jawa-Bali power system and increase the renewable energy mix in Indonesia,” he observes.

The ambitious floating solar station is part of a larger national objective to generate 23% of Indonesia’s energy mix from renewables by 2025. To reach this target, PT PLN has studied several sites ripe for more solar development. In particular, the nation’s large amount of hydroelectric dams and lakes present plenty of ideal water bodies.

“We have identified at least 10 dams and over 100 lakes that can be used to develop floating solar plants,” says Zaini. “The potential for floating PV in Indonesia is endless because of the archipelago’s geography makes it ripe for development.”