JAKARTA:
The government is tendering as many as 80 projects related to the development
of solar power plants in an attempt to boost the country’s renewable energy
supplies.
The 80
projects will have a combined capacity of up to 140 megawatts (MW), according
to Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry director general for renewable energy
Rida Mulyana.
The
ministry opened the tender starting last Thursday and is expected to announce
the winners of the projects by this December.
“The solar
plants’ construction will take about six months. Therefore, we will see the
plants commence operation in the middle of next year,” Rida said as quoted by
Antara news agency.
He added
most of the solar power plants would be located in eastern Indonesia, such as
in Papua, West Papua, Maluku, Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara. Most of the power
plants will have a 1 MW capacity while the biggest project will be located in
Jayapura, Papua, with a 6 MW capacity.
According
to Rida, at least nine units of power plants would be offered for development
in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) with a total capacity of 14 MW. He said seven
locations in Papua would host solar power plants with a 14.5 MW capacity, six
locations in North Maluku with a combined capacity of 7.5 MW, six developments
in Maluku with 9.5 MW and another six projects in North Sulawesi with 13 MW.
There will
also be three locations in Aceh hosting 4 MW solar power plants, six units in
Riau with an 8.5 MW capacity, seven units in West Kalimantan with a 9.5 MW
capacity, five unit plants in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) with 17 MW and four
units in East Java with a 4 MW capacity.
The 140 MW
projects will need roughly 2.8 trillion rupiah in investment. Earlier this
year, the government inaugurated the largest capacity solar power plant in
Karangasem, Bali. The plant has a 1 MW capacity and cost 26 billion rupiah in
investment.
The
government has put aside 400 billion rupiah on the development of solar power
plants this year.
According
to the announcement on the renewable energy directorate’s website, the tenders
of power plant projects have been open for development in Kupang, NTT and in
North Lombok, NTB, with 5 MW and 2 MW capacities, respectively.
Despite abundant
potential in renewable energy, the country remains heavily dependent on the
fossil fuel for its electricity supply.
According
to a report in the renewable energy directorate general, the country’s solar
power plants’ installed capacity had reached 59 MW as of early November.
Energy and
Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said the country had a solar energy
potential of 50,000 MW. “A number of companies came to us and said they wanted
to build plants,” Jero said at an event recently.
Attempting
to boost solar power plant development, the Energy and Mineral Resources
Ministry issued last June Ministerial Decree no. 17 2013, which regulates the
purchasing of electricity produced by photovoltaic solar power plants by
state-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).
– By
arrangement with the ANN/The Jakarta Post –
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