Indonesia Floats Southeast Asia's Biggest Solar Plant For 50,000 Homes

According to Nikkei Asia (paywalled), Indonesia has officially launched Southeast Asia's largest floating solar plant. It covers an area of over 250 hectares (2.5 km^2) and should be able to produce enough renewable energy to power 50,000 homes. Interesting Engineering reports: 'Today is a historical day because our big dream of building a large-scale renewable energy plant is finally achieved. We managed to build the largest floating solar plant in Southeast Asia, and the third biggest in the world,' Widodo is reported to have said at the opening ceremony. 'The Cirata floating solar panel is the largest floating solar panel in Southeast Asia, and also the third largest in the world,' he added.

China's PowerChina Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited constructed the power plant with Indonesia's state electricity corporation PLN and the United Arab Emirates energy company Masdar. The project had an investment of $145 million. More than 340,000 solar panels cover the reservoir surface, generating 192 MW of electricity annually, complementing existing hydropower at the site. The project had experienced significant delays before construction finally commenced in December 2020.

PLN and Masdar are discussing plans to expand the facility and increase its power generation capacity to 500 MW. The plant occupies only 4% of the dam's reservoir surface, and according to the Indonesian government, solar panels can occupy up to 20% of the surface of a lake or dam, making it an efficient use of space.

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