- by Gazet International
- Dec 08, 2023
The 1.7 trillion rupiah ($108.70 million) project was built by PLN Nusantara Power, a unit of Indonesia's national utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), and Masdar, a unit of Mubadala Investment Company in the United Arab Emirates. "I spoke with Minister Thani from the UAE that this would be expanded to around 500 MWp and we hope more renewable energy could be developed in Indonesia," the president, also known as Jokowi, told reporters, referring to UAE Foreign Trade Minister Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi. The solar power infrastructure was created on the Cirata reservoir, which is located 108 kilometers (67.11 miles) southeast of Jakarta, Indonesia. The dam's hydroelectric plant has an installed capacity of around 1,008 MW. According to PLN chief executive Darmawan Prasodjo, the facility is the third largest floating solar plant in the world and may be enlarged up to 1,000 MWp, as the 13 arrays erected so far only occupied 4% of the reservoir's surface. Darmawan claimed that regulations allow the solar facility to use up to 20% of the reservoir's area, and that talks with Mubadala about the next phase of the development were underway. "This is just beginning. The president instructed us to maintain the momentum so that renewable energy development could be escalated," Darmawan said at the same event. In 2022, renewable energy accounted for 12.3% of Indonesia's energy mix, and Jokowi predicted that the target of 23% by 2025 would likely be missed. "It is not easy because there was COVID-19 pandemic, we could not reach it. But our commitment is to keep moving to achieve the target we have promised," Jokowi said.
