Indonesia Opens Tenders for 80 Solar Projects Worth $250 Million

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Johannesburg, South Africa)--The Indonesian government has opened tenders for the development of up to 80 solar power plants. The projects will have a combined output capacity of about 140 megawatts (MW), according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. The winners of the projects are expected to be announced by December this year.

Total investment in the projects will be about $250 million, and the government has set aside $35 million for development this year. The largest solar power plant in Indonesia to date is a 1-MW plant in Karangasem, Bali. The plant involved an investment of $2.3 million and was inaugurated this year.

Energy Minister Rida Mulyana said that construction on solar plants would take about six months and that they would begin operations in the middle of 2014.

Most of the solar plants would be located in eastern Indonesia, including Papua, West Papua, Maluku, Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara. Most would have a capacity of 1 MW and the biggest project, located in Jayapura, Papua, would have a 6-MW capacity, said the minister.

The renewable energy directorate reported that the country currently has 59 MW of installed solar power and depends heavily on fossil fuel for it energy. But a government spokesman said that Indonesia had a solar power potential of 50,000 MW and that companies have been indicating that they wanted to build plants.

The ministry gave solar power development a boost in June with Ministerial Decree No. 17, which regulates the purchasing of electricity produced by solar photovoltaic plants by state-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).

For related information, see June 17, 2013, article - Indonesia's 'Iconic Island' Initiative Boosts 25% Renewable Energy Push.

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