PLN: Additional 4.6 GW Solar Power Capacity with Battery Storage to Come Online in 2027
State-owned PT PLN (Persero) is targeting the addition of 4.6 gigawatts (GW) of solar power plant (PLTS) capacity equipped with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) by 2027. This forms part of the acceleration of the 100 GW solar power development programme launched by President Prabowo Subianto.
PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo stated that the use of BESS provides a solution to the limitations of the transmission network in absorbing electricity generated by solar plants. "If a solar plant is connected directly to PLN’s transmission or network, there is indeed a limit to the power the transmission system can absorb from our electricity infrastructure. However, by using a battery energy storage system with a sufficiently large capacity, there will be an additional capacity of around 4.6 gigawatts in 2027," Darmawan said during a hearing with Commission XII of the Indonesian House of Representatives on Thursday.
Darmawan noted that land constraints, which had previously posed a challenge in earlier projects, have now been addressed under President Prabowo Subianto’s programme, with land provision becoming a government assignment. Additionally, the utilisation of reservoirs is being pursued through intensive coordination with the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM). For the Java region, the ATR/BPN Ministry has reportedly proposed 28,000 hectares of land, which was then overlaid with PLN’s transmission network and substation maps.
"Of the 28,000 hectares, around 8,500 hectares, or 8.5 gigawatt peak, is land already proposed by the ATR/BPN Ministry that could potentially be used immediately for this programme," he said. The battery-based solar power development will be carried out in stages. Following the addition of 4.6 GW in 2027, capacity will increase by a further 4.4 GW in 2028, then 2.7 GW in 2029 through accelerated projects in the Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL), and another 2.4 GW in 2030.