Bridging Renewable Energy and Sustainable Finance

The Cirata Floating PV project has a capacity of 145 MWac / 192 MWp, making it the largest floating solar installation in ASEAN. Located on the Cirata Reservoir in West Java, the plant covers approximately 250 hectares — equivalent to 5% of the reservoir's total area — and was constructed between Q2 2021 and Q3 2023 at an overall project cost of USD 145 million.

The project was funded through a combination of sponsor equity and a consortium of international commercial banks, specifically Standard Chartered Bank (UAE Branch), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (Singapore Branch), and Societe Generale (Singapore Branch). This structure offered visiting bankers a real-world model of how project finance can be applied to large-scale renewable energy infrastructure.

The team from Cirata Floating PV project highlighted six compelling advantages of floating PV technology: easier space acquisition, conservation of productive land for other uses, reduced reservoir evaporation, strong synergy with existing hydroelectric infrastructure, higher energy output per installed capacity, and Indonesia's vast untapped potential given its reservoir network. Indonesia holds more than 192 dams and reservoirs covering 86,247 hectares, representing a floating solar potential exceeding 17,200 MWp if up to 20% of the water catchment area is utilized. Cirata was selected as the site for Indonesia's first large-scale floating PV project for several reasons: it is located on Java Island, which has a robust grid capable of handling large-scale solar intermittency; peak electricity consumption in West Java aligns well with solar generation hours; and Cirata holds the largest hydroelectric installed capacity in Indonesia and ranks among the top three largest reservoir areas in the country.

The PV modules used at Cirata were specially designed for the demanding floating solar environment, featuring 21% efficiency, double-glass construction for strength and rigidity, POA encapsulation for high humidity durability, N-Type cells to reduce PID effect, and a 30-year power warranty from the manufacturer — with 340,000 modules installed in total. The floating system itself is made from HDPE — a highly recyclable, environmentally safe, UV- and fire-resistant material with a designed service life of 25 years. The completed facility consists of 13 floating islands, each measuring around 10 hectares with a capacity of 15.7 MWp, anchored by 2,200 mooring systems to a lakebed reaching depths of up to 100 meters, and is expected to produce 250–300 GWh of electricity per year while avoiding up to 214,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually.