Bogor, W Java (Indonesia Window) – Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday (Dec 17) inaugurated a 145-megawatt (MW) floating solar power plant construction project in Cirata Reservoir which is located in Purwakarta district, West Java province.

The project is one of 11 business deals confirmed between Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi in January 2020.

"The inauguration of the 145 MW floating solar power plant project worth 129 million U.S. dollars is the first step. We hope that Masdar, as the UAE investor and a partner of PJB (Indonesia’s power generation company) will continue to expand and build other power plants in Indonesia," Indonesian Ambassador to the UAE Husin Bagis said.

The inauguration of the floating solar power plant project was also marked by the signing of the shareholder agreement and the launch of a floater.

In the early stages, PT Pembangkit Jawa Bali Solar Masdar Energi (the joint venture) will place a water station to collect data to prepare the power plant construction process.

The electricity generated from the plant will enter the PLN (the national electricity company) transmission network and can be utilized by the people living in the vicinity area.

"This is the second largest solar power plant in the world and the largest in Southeast Asia. This investment project shows that Indonesia is open to foreign investors and is committed to developing existing renewable energy," Ambassador Husin stressed.

Masdar is a UAE company founded in 2006, which focuses on developing renewable energy projects.

The company has been working on a number of projects in more than 30 countries around the world.

The power generation capacity of renewable energy development projects partnering with Masdar is around 10 gigawatts (GW), representing a combined investment of around 19.9 billion U.S. dollars.

The clean technologies being developed are onshore and offshore wind power, solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power, as well as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS).

The processing of waste into energy, water desalination, and electricity and heat storage are also included in the projects undertaken by Masdar.

Reporting by Indonesia Window