Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and PLN Nusantara Power have agreed to develop Phase II of Cirata floating photovoltaic (FPV) power plant in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest FPV plant, by up to 500MW.
The initial 145MW phase of the innovative floating PV project, located in the picturesque Cirata reservoir in West Java, Indonesia, is expected to come online later this year.
The Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Indonesia recently approved a regulation that now allows up to 20 percent of water coverage for renewable energy use. This has opened up the Cirata expansion to a further 500MW, in addition to the 145MW on the verge of completion.
A signing ceremony was held at the UAE-Indonesia Economic Forum hosted by the UAE Embassy of Indonesia. Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, the UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure; Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia’s Minister of Defense and Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs, were present at the ceremony.
Also in attendance were the UAE Ambassador to Indonesia and ASEAN Abdulla Salem Obaid Al Dhaheri; and Indonesia’s Ambassador to the UAE Husin Bagis. The ceremony was to deepen the clean energy partnership between the two nations.
Al Mazrouei said: “The UAE and Indonesia share a common vision of achieving sustainable development and realise that renewables are at the heart of this vision. I am pleased to see that this partnership has been taken to the next level. Such partnerships feed into our priorities for COP28, where the energy transition will be front and centre with a concerted push to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.”
Masdar’s growing footprint in Indonesia
Indonesia is a key strategic market in Southeast Asia for Masdar. Apart from developing the region’s largest floating solar facility, Masdar entered the geothermal energy sector through a strategic investment in Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE) in February this year. Masdar also opened an office in Jakarta in 2021 to further strengthen links with key players within the region.
Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Masdar’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Masdar, the UAE and Indonesia are pushing the boundaries of innovation with the Cirata floating solar photovoltaic project, already the largest in the region at 145MW. Within the key strategic markets of Southeast Asia and Indonesia, Masdar is building on our productive partnership with PLN group to grow renewable energy capacity and support Indonesia’s ambitious net-zero objectives ahead of COP28 and beyond.”
Indonesia has plans to increase its renewable energy mix and has pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2060 or sooner. It has committed to a 29 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030.
Ruly Firmansyah, President Director of PLN NP, said: “We’re delighted to be growing our renewable energy portfolio for Indonesia as we extend our successful partnership with Masdar. With this next phase of development, we can further expand what is already the largest floating solar PV platform in Southeast Asia at 145MW, which we will be bringing into operation this year.”
Ahead of COP28 to be hosted in the UAE later this year, the new Memorandum of Understanding demonstrates the UAE’s commitment to supporting countries around the world with their decarbonisation plans for a cleaner, greener future.
Established in 2006, Masdar is active in more than 40 countries with a total combined electricity generation capacity of more than 20GW. It has invested, or committed to invest, in worldwide projects with a combined value of more than $30 billion with plans to reach 100GW and 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030.
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