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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
South-east Asia’s largest floating solar plant inaugurated
15/11/2023
News
The 145 MW Cirata floating solar plant, claimed to be the largest such facility in south-east Asia, has been officially inaugurated by the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo.
Located on the Cirata reservoir in Indonesia’s West Java province, the plant will power 50,000 homes and offset 214,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions according to project developers Masdar of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Indonesia’s state-owned PLN Group.
Masdar and PLN recently signed a memorandum of understanding to develop Phase II of Cirata with up to 500 MW of additional capacity, following permission from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Indonesia to increase the portion of water that can be covered for renewable energy uses to a maximum of 20%.
Commenting on the inauguration, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, COP28 President-Designate and Masdar Chairman, said: ‘With just a few days to go before COP28 in the UAE, it is exciting to see tangible progress being made on further ramping up of renewables capacity as we collectively seek to deliver unified action on climate change that will work for all parts of the world.’
Floating solar plants are attractive to countries like Indonesia with expanding populations and scarce land resources. They provide higher solar panel efficiency and productivity due to the close proximity of the panels to the water surface that helps cool them. Floating panels also reduce evaporation, saving fresh water for drinking and irrigation purposes.
Indonesia aims to reach net zero by 2060 and recently proposed a new Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIIP) that aims to increase the country’s share of renewable electricity generation to 44% and limit emissions to 250mn tCO2e by 2030.
