Jakarta—The state electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) said it will proceed with the plan to develop a 50-MW floating solar power plant on the Singakarak lake in West Sumatra province.
Antara reported earlier this month that the company will develop a floating solar power plant with its partner, ACWA Power, a Saudi Arabia-based renewable energy company. This will be the second major project built by both parties after the successful completion and operation of the Cirata floating solar plant in West Java.
According to PLN’s presentation material, the floating solar power plant will be developed on 49 hectares of the lake surface, or only 0.45% of the surface area of the Singkarak Lake. PLN expects the floating solar power plant will start commercial operation in 2027.
The development of the floating solar plant is part of the company’s effort to attain the government’s 2060 goal of net-zero emissions (NZE).
Certain local community groups have voiced their objections to the project. PLN, however, assured that it will not degrade the environment.
President Director of PT Indo Acwa Tenaga Singkarak, Helmi Kautsar, told the state news agency early this week that the development of the floating solar power plant will take into account the effort to preserve the environment. Helmi assured that the development of the floating solar power plant will not disrupt the local community’s activities, but instead will generate local economy.
PT PLN Indonesia Power’s president director, Edwin Nugraha Putra, said the floating solar power plant project, called PLTS Terapung Danau Singkarak, will fulfil the electricity needs of the West Sumatra region and the whole Sumatra region through the Sumatra power grid system.
PLN said the project is now entering the phase of signing the power purchase agreement (PPA), a document the developer needs to start developing the project. Once completed, this project will become the largest floating solar power plant in Sumatra.
Separately, Hendra Iswahyudi, Director for Energy Conservation at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR), said the government will develop at least four floating solar plants in the near future, in addition to the Cirata solar power plant. The four floating solar plants are PLTS in Tembesi in Batam, PLTS Karangkates in East Java, PLTS Saguling in Bandung, and PLTS Singkarak.
PLN’s subsidiaries will carry out these projects, namely Nusantara Power and Indonesia Power. (Roffie Kurniawan)
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