The Cirata floating photovoltaic power plant is Indonesia’s first floating power solar PV plant being developed on the Cirata reservoir in the West Java province.
It is set to become the biggest floating solar power plant in the Southeast Asia region and one of the biggest of its kind in the world.
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The project is being developed by Pembangkitan Jawa Bali Masdar Solar Energi (PMSE), a joint venture of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC (Masdar) and Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).
Estimated to cost approximately £95m ($129m), the 145MW project will generate sufficient electricity to power up to 50,000 houses and reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by 214,000t a year upon completion.
The project was inaugurated in December 2020 and is expected to create up to 800 jobs. The construction on the power plant is expected to start in the first half of 2021 with commissioning scheduled for 2022.
The Cirata power plant will contribute towards Indonesia’s Electricity Infrastructure Acceleration programme, which aims to shift 23% of the country’s energy consumption to be sourced from renewable resources by 2025.
Cirata floating photovoltaic power plant location
The Cirata floating photovoltaic (PV) power plant is being built on a 250ha plot within the 6,200-hectare Citra reservoir of the 1.8GW Citra hydro-electric power plant, which is located approximately 100km south-east of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
Project development
The 145MW Cirata floating photovoltaic power plant will be developed in phases with the first phase adding an initial capacity of 50MW.
A joint venture agreement was signed between UAE-based Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC and PT Pembangkitan Jawa Bali Investasi (PJBI), a subsidiary of Indonesia’s state electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero), to develop the Cirata power plant in December 2020.
The partners formed a joint venture company PT Pembangkitan Jawa Bali Masdar Solar Energi (PMSE) to oversee the development of the project. The partnership will help to strengthen bilateral collaboration between the UAE and Indonesia and contribute to the sustainable development in Indonesia.
The Cirata power plant development also marks the first investment by the UAE in Indonesia’s renewable energy sector and Masdar’s first venture in the Southeast Asian market.
The Indonesian government included the Cirata floating photovoltaic power plant in the National Strategic Projects (PSNs).
The government of Indonesia also announced its consideration for the development of an additional 60 floating photovoltaic power plants on more than 600 lakes and reservoirs in the country.
Off-take agreement
In January 2021, a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the Cirata floating photovoltaic power project was signed with PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero), a state-owned electricity producer and distributor, at a rate of $0.058 per kilowatt hour (kWh).
The electricity produced from the power plant will be transmitted to the Perusahaan Listrik Negara transmission network from where it will be further distributed to the surrounding community.
Contractors involved
Umbra, an Indonesia-based legal solutions company, acted as the legal counsel for the drafting and negotiation of the power purchase agreement (PPA) signed between PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) and Masdar at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) held in January 2021.
