Masdar develops JV to drive growth of 145MW Indonesian floating solar project

• Abu Dhabi-based Masdar has developed a joint endeavor to advance a 145MWac floating PV park at a storage tank in West Java, Indonesia.

The renewables designer has actually partnered with PT PJBI, a subsidiary of Indonesia's state power firm PT PLN, for the Cirata project, with building and construction work due to begin in very early 2021.

Creation of the joint venture firm, called PT Pembangkitan Jawa Bali Masdar Solar Energi (PMSE), comes after plans for the floating PV park were revealed in January, with Masdar authorizing a power acquisition agreement for the project alongside PT PLN. Since then, the facility has actually been assigned a 'nationwide critical project' by the Indonesian government, providing it priority standing and acknowledging its economic as well as social advantages to the country.

Set to be built on a 250-hectare plot of the 6,200-hectare tank of the very same name, the Cirata project marks the United Arab Emirates' first financial investment in Indonesia's renewable energy market.

Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said the company sees "significant potential" in Southeast Asia, given the region's "fast financial growth as well as dedication to lasting growth".

In addition to strategies to get to 23% of its energy mix from renewables by 2025, Indonesia is said to be taking into consideration the development of an additional 60 floating PV plants, capitalising on its greater than 600 lakes and storage tanks. A current report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis discovered that the mix of floating PV as well as hydro on existing dams in Indonesia exceeds the business economics of including new baseload coal-fired nuclear power plant partly of the country.

While it is unclear whether Masdar and also PJBI mean to join pressures for more floating solar projects, Gunawan Yudi H, president supervisor of PJBI, claimed the brand-new partnership notes the first step in the firms' partnership in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

The collaboration develops part of Masdar's wider global development technique, with the firm creating or owning solar projects in markets including Armenia, Uzbekistan and Egypt. It likewise made its US solar launching previously this year through the procurement of a 50% risk in five Californian projects from EDF.