The largest floating solar power plant in Southeast Asia comes online

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The largest floating solar power plant in Southeast Asia comes online​

November 10, 2023, by Amir Garanovic

The 192MWp floating solar plant, developed by Indonesia’s state-owned utility company PLN and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company – Masdar, has been put in operation at Cirata hydropower reservoir in West Java, Indonesia.

The 192MWp Cirata floating solar power plant (Courtesy of Sungrow FPV)

The power plant, inaugurated by Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, will power 50,000 homes and offset 214,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Built on a 250-hectare plot of the Cirata reservoir and expected to produce around 300 GWh/year, the power plant is Masdar’s first floating solar project and its first renewable energy project in the Southeast Asian market.

In addition to being the largest floating solar project in Indonesia, it is also the largest such project built in a hydropower reservoir with a water depth of 100 meters, water level fluctuation of 18 meters, and a 50-meter difference in water bottom elevation.

The floating solar solution has been supplied by Chinese company Sungrow FPV, and features high-load-bearing anchor blocks tailored to the specific geological conditions of the project site.

The project design underwent scrutiny by third-party audit organizations, including DNV, RINA, INNOSEA, and received validation from the Dam Safety Committee (DSC) of Indonesia.

Indonesia’s minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Arifin Tasrif, said: “The Cirata Floating PV is the result of collaboration between two countries, namely Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, which involves PLN and Masdar.

“The capacity of the Cirata Floating PLTS could be greater, with a maximum total potential reaching around 1.2 GW peak, if it utilized 20% of the total area of the Cirata reservoir. With the operation of the Cirata Floating PV, we hope it will increase investor confidence and encourage technological innovation as a solution to limited land in developing solar energy, where Indonesia has enormous floating PV potential.”