The Cirata Floating Solar Power Plant (PLTS) in the Cirata Reservoir, West Java, is an important historical milestone in the development of renewable energy in Indonesia. The power plant, which was inaugurated in November 2023, is administratively part of two regions: Purwakarta District and West Bandung District. As a solar power plant named the biggest in Southeast Asia and with a capacity of 192 megawatt peak (MWp), the Cirata Floating PLTS brings new hope to the efforts to achieve sustainable energy. The power plant’s history dates back to 2012. At that time, a subsidiary of state-run electricity company PLN, namely PT Pembangkitan Jawa-Bali (PJB), or currently PT PLN Nusantara Power (PLN NP), began exploring the clean energy potential through solar power development. Considering the surface area of the reservoir that reaches 6,500 hectares, the idea of combining a solar power plant with surface water emerged. However, the plan could not be executed at that time due to the lack of technology. It was only five years later, in 2017, that Indonesia explored cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in developing new renewable energy. PLN NP then developed the Cirata Floating PLTS after having signed a cooperation agreement with the UAE. The project is a collaboration initiated in 2017, which was started from a feasibility study to the formation of the PT Pembangkitan Jawa-Bali Masdar Solar Energy (PMSE), which is a joint venture company between PT PLN Nusantara Power and Masdar, a renewable energy company from the UAE. Meanwhile, the ownership share of PT PMSE is 51 percent owned by a subsidiary of PLN NP, namely PLN Nusantara Renewables, while 49 percent is owned by Masdar. (ICE GIACARTA)

Fonte notizia: Antara News, 12 April 2024