The largest floating solar farm is Southeast Asia is put into use in West Java on Thursday. President of Indonesia Joko Widodo was at the ceremony and said, “today is a historical day.”
The Cirata floating solar farm, with invest value of IDR 1.8 trillion, which is consisted of 340,000 panels and expected to generate enough electricity to power 50,000 households, is built on a 200-hectare (500-acre) reservoir in West Java, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) from the capital, Jakarta.
The Cirata floating solar farm. (Photo: Indonesia.go.id )
The project, a collaboration between Indonesia's national electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) and the Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy company Masdar, took three years to complete and funded by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered.
Currently, Cirata Floating Solar Power Plant has an electricity production capacity of 192 MW which Joko Widodo asked to be increased to 500 MW in the future. He also revealed that there would be another "giant" project in the new renewable energy sector which is expected to be the biggest hydroelectric power plant project in Indonesia.
Indonesia is also targeted as the world’s Carbon Hub. Riza Suarga, the General Chair of Indonesia Carbon Trade Association (IDCTA), said that there will be carbon transactions at major forums in Indonesia and he has confidence to beat Japan in carbon field.
“We hope our President, Mr. Joko Widodo’s dream to make Indonesia as the next world carbon center can be achieved in the near future,” said Riza at Carbon Digital Conference 2023 on Monday. He also added that we can beat Japan which has implemented the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as well as Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS).
“The significant potential as a global carbon trading center is evident with the development of several CCS hub projects including in Sumatra, North-West Java, Papua, and Maslea. These locations represent potential areas that may be further developed as the CCS hubs in the future,” explained Riza.
According to Riza, CCS will be the new avenue in the future in developing the low-carbon business, including the development of hydrogen and green-and-blue ammonia.
The Sustainability Leader of PwC Indonesia and Knowledge Partner for CDC 2023, Yuliana Sudjono, added, “Indonesia has an abundant supply of carbon credits. However, without a strong demand in the market, this supplier market will be meaningless. Moreover, in order to create public trust in the reliability and credibility of credits traded, it’s necessary to have an ecosystem that supports the monitoring mechanism of credit quality.”
Indonesia possesses extraordinary potential in natural resources. This potential can be optimized to reduce the emissions, including through the utilisation in the carbon market. President Joko Widodo mentioned that Indonesia’s carbon market potential exceeds IDR 3,000 trillion (US$ 190 million). This also represents a new and sustainable economic opportunity which aligns with the global trends towards a green economy.
Through primary transactions between businesses and secondary trading via the Financial Services Authority exchange, domestic carbon trading activities can reach between US$1 billion to US$15 billion annually, which is equivalent to around IDR 225,21 trillion.
