We’ll Build Solar Parks in Eastern Indonesia, Says New, Renewable Energy Director General

MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

PRESS RELEASE

NUMBER: 023.Pers/04/SJI/2021

Date: 16 January 2021

We'll Build Solar Parks in Eastern Indonesia, Says New, Renewable Energy Director General

The Indonesian Government has planned to develop solar parks in Eastern Indonesia, Director General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (NREEC) of Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) Dadan Kusdiana has said on the sidelines of the press conference on the Performance Report of the NREEC Subsector in 2020 and the Work Plan for 2021 in Jakarta on Thursday (14/1).

Dadan stressed that the solar park construction is part of the plan to develop large-scale solar power plants (PLTS) on large areas. "We plan to build solar parks, like those in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Portugal, and Saudi Arabia. So, on one large area, there will only be solar panels," he said.

The location of the solar parks will be centered in Eastern Indonesia, by utilizing arid regions with good solar radiation and low rainfall. "As we move further east (of Indonesia), especially in arid regions, the sunshine is good while rain is rare," said Dadan.

This development plan is part of the government's efforts to massively develop solar power plants. The Ministry of EMR has set a target for solar power plant capacity of 17,687 Mega Watt (MW) by 2035. The decision was made because the economies of scale of solar power plants are very competitive and thus, solar power plants can compete with fossil-fired power plants such as coal power plants (PLTU).

"The economies of scale are competitive. Coal power plants can supply the baseload, while solar power plants can only supply when the sun is shining. How can we achieve this? This is a combination between preparedness and good economic revenue, technical aspects too, so PLN will have no problem with receiving electricity from large-scale solar power plants," said Dadan. (IY)

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