Indonesia

Indonesian president Joko Widodo inaugurated a 145 MW floating solar plant in Java this week, while module manufacturer Husaun Energy said it will supply 60 MW of heterojunction solar panels for Grow Energy’s Thailand floating PV projects.

HDF Energy has expanded its operations to make fuel cells in France. It says it plans to produce green hydrogen infrastructure for low-carbon hydrogen production and non-intermittent renewable electrical power in 30 countries throughout the world.

Abu Dhabi-based Masdar and PLN Nusantara Power, an Indonesian state-owned electricity generator, have agreed to more than triple the size of the Cirata floating PV power plant in West Java so it can generate 500 MW.

A group of researchers from the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory assessed the potential for floating PV (FPV) plants at reservoirs and natural waterbodies in 10 Southeast Asian countries. It found that the overall FPV technical potential for the region ranges from 477 GW to 1,046 GW.

Singapore-based developer Vena Energy says it will investigate opportunities to make solar panel components and battery energy storage systems in Indonesia, in order to support a hybrid megaproject with up to 2 GW of solar and more than 8 GWh of energy storage.

In a new monthly column for pv magazine, the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) describes how regions that don’t experience waves larger than 6 m nor winds stronger than 15 m/s could generate up to one million TWh per year via offshore floating PV arrays. Most of the good sites are close to the equator, in and around Indonesia and tropical West Africa.

SEG Solar (SEG), a Texas-based module manufacturer, will lease land in Indonesia for 5 GW of solar cell and 3 GW of PV module capacity.

New PV capacity additions in Southeast Asia are expected to bounce back this year for the first time since 2020, according to the Asian Photovoltaic Industry Association. The market is expected to grow by 13% in 2023, for 3.8 GW of new installations.

Coal-dependent Indonesia has huge solar potential but progress toward a net zero economy has been sluggish, explain Daniel Kurniawan and Fabby Tumiwa from the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), an Indonesian thinktank.

Indonesia’s PT PLN says it has started operating a 561 kW floating solar plant on the island of Java. The floating array, which is part of a larger 920 kW PV project under construction at the company’s Gas and Steam Power Generation Complex, is expected to generate 1.4 million kWh a year.