Indonesia, Cirata project comprises about 340,000 floated across a 250ha area. Image: Tetra Tech

INDONESIA:

Indonesia, is the most populous country in Southeast Asia, with a population of over 279 million people.

Cirata Reservoir floating solar PV power plant is the largest in Southeast Asia and third largest in the world. Now surpassing the size of Singapore’s Tengeh floating solar power plant of 45 hectares, Cirata spans over 200 hectares and divided into 13 blocks housing over 340,000 solar panels,192-megawatt peak (MWp) facility power plant is projected to generate 245 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean energy annually to power over 50,000 households while offsetting 214,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

With an investment of between US$108 to US$130 depending on your source, the Cirata Floating Solar Power Plant was a two-year project opening in November 2023, involving 1,400 local workers and now provides employment for 60 to 100 individuals in maintenance and operational roles. Currently utilising 4 per cent of the Cirata Reservoir’s surface, with discussions are underway to expand up to 20 per cent use of the area.

Challenges:

Ai Saadiyah Dwidaningsih, the head of the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources of West Java Province, highlighted challenges that renewable energy projects require significant investment for production and advanced technology, as well as major operational expenses due to the need for specialised skilled labour. She noted that the financing for the Cirata Floating Solar Power Plant was sourced from a consortium of international commercial banks, comprising Standard Chartered Bank via its UAE branch, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s Singapore Branch and Societe Generale’s Singapore Branch.

Financial hurdles could be abated by local governments encouraging the establishment of community-level financing mechanisms – village-owned enterprises- for renewable energy development rather than pursuing larger-scale renewable energy projects that could displace local residents from their land.

INDIA:

The largest floating solar PV plant in India currently is a 100 MW plant in Ramagundam in Telangana.

While in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh a 600 MW floating solar project is going to be built on Narmada’s Omkareshwar Dam, spread over 100 square kilometres or 10,000 hectares, which will become the largest floating renewable energy in the world.

The state’s chief minister,  Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has also announced that by 2027, Madhya Pradesh will have a renewable energy potential of 20,000 MW.

“The state government is on the path of making Madhya Pradesh the lungs of India along with the heart of India. Madhya Pradesh will make every possible contribution towards fulfilling all the commitments of India and the Panchamrit Mantra given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Glasgow Conference for Climate Change,”

Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.