Equator, CREI plan 900-MWp Indonesia solar with 1.2-GWh battery

• Equator Renewables Asia and CRE International will develop 900-MWp solar and 1.2-GWh storage in Indonesia’s Riau Islands to export clean power to Singapore.

Equator Renewables Asia (ERA) has partnered with China’s CRE International (CREI) to develop a 900-MWp solar project paired with 1.2-GWh of battery storage in Indonesia’s Riau Islands, aiming to export clean electricity to Singapore. The concept taps abundant regional sunshine and sheltered sites for large-scale PV, with storage to shift energy into evening demand and provide fast grid support.

Cross-border delivery is the crux. The partners will need to progress Indonesian permits and land arrangements, complete environmental and social impact assessments, and coordinate with Singapore’s authorities on import approvals and subsea transmission. Co-located batteries are essential: they stabilise output for cable operations, reduce curtailment on bright days and enable frequency and voltage services at the point of export.

The engineering playbook is modern and repeatable. Expect bifacial modules on single-axis trackers optimised for coastal irradiance, DC/AC ratios tuned for annual yield, and grid-forming inverters to support stable operation during contingencies. Containerised, multi-hour batteries with sectionalised fire safety and robust thermal management will operate under a supervisory control system that co-optimises energy arbitrage and ancillary services, while maintaining state of charge for evening peaks.

Commercially, the project seeks long-tenor offtake with Singaporean buyers to underpin financing—potentially mixing utility contracts and corporate PPAs. Portfolio-level procurement for transformers and switchgear will be critical given long lead times, as will standardised EPC methods to compress schedules across multiple array blocks.

Community integration and safeguards are foundational. The developers will need to address fisheries, navigation and biodiversity, design storm-water and erosion controls for tropical rainfall, and set decommissioning and recycling plans for modules and batteries.

If approvals and procurement align, ERA and CREI’s project could become a flagship for regional power trade—turning equatorial sunshine and grid-scale storage into dependable electrons for a demand-constrained city-state.