Govt allocates 24,000 hectares in Java for 100 GW solar power plant

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) and the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning (ATR) have prepared 24,000 hectares of land on Java Island to support the 100 GW Solar Power Plant (PLTS) program.

"Based on our identification, approximately 24,000 hectares of land are available on Java Island," the Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Yuliot Tanjung, said on Friday.

He explained that the 24,000 hectares of land will be followed up with joint verification between his office, the Ministry of ATR, the state-owned electricity firm, PT PLN.

Furthermore, the government will connect infrastructure, including transmission lines and the availability of PLN substations to the power plant located on the 24,000 hectares.

In the initial phase, his office will first prioritize accelerating the 17-gigawatt (GW) project.

"We also have battery energy storage (BESS) of around 33 gigawatts," he added.

He conveyed that the government is preparing the initial phase of developing a 17-gigawatt (GW) solar power plant as part of the massive 100 GW PLTS project being pushed to support the national energy transition.

Meanwhile, the Expert Staff to the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources for Strategic Planning, Jisman P. Hutajulu, stated that the government is targeting a total PLTS development capacity of around 100.7 gigawatt peak (GWp), combined with a battery energy storage system (BESS) of 145.8 gigawatt hours (GWh).

The program is divided into two main schemes: large-scale PLTS connected to the national electricity grid, and distribute small-scale PLTS to reach remote areas and villages.

For large-scale solar power plants (PLTS), the planned capacity is about 87.5 GWp, supported by 111 GWh of BESS.

Meanwhile, distributed PLTS are targeted to reach 13.2 GWp, with BESS capacity of around 34.8 GWh.

From an economic standpoint, the government estimates electricity tariffs for large-scale solar power plants at 5.5 to 25 US cents per kWh, while small-scale solar power plants are projected at 9 to 40 US cents per kWh, depending on storage capacity.

Furthermore, the 100 GW solar power plant project is estimated to require an investment of around US$71.3 billion.

Earlier, President Prabowo Subianto set a target to develop 100 GW of solar power capacity between 2026 and 2028. This is considered highly ambitious, given that current installed solar capacity is only around 1.5 GW.