PLN to Emulate UAE, US, and Saudi Arabia in Aggressive Solar Power Expansion

PT PLN (Persero) is looking to several countries as benchmarks to accelerate the development of large-scale Solar Power Plants (PLTS) domestically, including the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Saudi Arabia. This step is being taken to adopt land management strategies and technology to achieve the target of national energy sovereignty. PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo explained that these countries have successfully optimised landscapes such as deserts to produce cheap energy. He asserted that PLN is now attempting to replicate this efficiency in Indonesia through government land assignments to make the basic cost of electricity production more competitive. “We are conducting benchmarking, especially in the United Arab Emirates, then in the United States, particularly in California, and in Saudi Arabia. They have access to very large deserts, so the land issue is not a challenge for them,” he said during a Hearing Meeting with Commission XII of the Indonesian House of Representatives. This aligns with the target to build 100 Giga Watts of solar power as directed by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. However, because Indonesia has different geographical characteristics, PLN is addressing land challenges by utilising reservoir surfaces and areas along state-owned toll road corridors. “The government has assigned the task so that this 100 Giga Watt PLTS programme strengthens the electricity system across Indonesia, transforming imported energy into domestic, fossil energy into renewable energy, and expensive energy into cheaper energy,” he added. To emulate the success of developed countries in providing cheap energy, PLN is cooperating with the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency to secure 28,000 hectares of land. Furthermore, the utilisation of 10,000 hectares of reservoir surfaces is projected to contribute up to 10.3 Giga Watt peak capacity without competing with land needs for housing or industry. “Because this land is provided very cheaply by the state through cooperation between state-owned enterprises and the land agency, the main challenge of the PLTS programme using battery energy storage systems has been land,” he stated. For the first phase of the 100 GW mega project, PLN is targeting a capacity of 27.4 GWp combined with battery storage of 82.5 GWh. The capacity addition is planned to be realised in stages, namely 4.6 GW in 2027, 4.4 GW in 2028, and a cumulative addition of 19.1 GW targeted by 2030. In 2028, the company plans to build a BESS and floating PLTS project utilising state reservoirs of up to 3.1 GW. In PLN’s presentation, the company will utilise BESS from excess energy in the system amounting to 1.3 GW in 2027. The BESS and PLTS programme in the Java system amounts to 2.8 GW, alongside a BESS and PLTS programme to eliminate fuel oil in the Bali system of 0.3 GW, and a similar project in the Madura system of 0.2 GW. Additionally, the Fat Burning programme launched in Bali targets reducing dependence on fuel oil for power generation by up to 586,000 kilolitres, achieved through the installation of 3,000 MWh of BESS and 1,400 MWp of PLTS, requiring up to 1,400 hectares of land.