A new 50MW solar-plus-storage plant near Indonesia’s new capital city, Nusantara, on the island of Borneo, has been opened by a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore-headquartered engineering firm Sembcorp.
PT Sembcorp Renewables Indonesia and state-owned PT PLN Nusantara Renewables launched the Nusantara Sembcorp Solar Energi (NSSE) power plant. The plant comprises 50MW of solar PV and a 14.2MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).
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It is located on 87 hectares of land and represents Sembcorp’s inaugural venture into large-scale solar development in Indonesia.
NSSE features 114,420 625MWp bifacial solar PV modules and 126 lithium iron phosphate battery packs. The project also features 200kW and 300kW inverters and PV smart transformer stations.
The site is expected to generate around 93GWh of renewable energy per year and will provide all electricity needs for Nusantara, the future capital of Indonesia. The city was first established in February 2022 due to the rapid sinking witnessed in the country’s current capital, Jakarta. The construction of the new capital city is expected to cost in the region of US$35 billion.
The construction of a new capital city could well reduce Jakarta’s sinking rate, which is widely believed to be caused by the excessive extraction of groundwater to support its sizable population.
Jen Tan, head of renewables for Singapore and Indonesia at Sembcorp Industries, said: “Sembcorp is pleased to partner with PLN in this project. Leveraging our experience, we will deploy advanced energy storage to pair with the latest solar technology in this landmark utility-scale project.”
Borneo, a less densely populated island in Southeast Asia shared by Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei, lacks a traditional power grid. Instead, the sole Trans Borneo power grid is located in the mid-western portion of the island.
This grid spans the Malaysian state of Sarawak and Indonesia’s West Kalimantan region. Despite this, there are plans to develop what is known as the Borneo Grid, connecting more areas across the island.
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