3.6 Acre Solar Panel Farm Built in an Island in South Sulawesi

TheIndonesia.co - Indonesia's state-owned electricity company PT PLN (Limited) is working on a 1.46-hectare solar panel field that produces 1.3 megawatts of clean electricity in Parak Village, Bontomanai District, Selayar Regency, South Sulawesi. The solar power plant (PLTS) is targeted to operate commercially in the first half of this year to add to the renewable energy sources and support Indonesia's commitment to accelerate its energy transition program.

"The Selayar Hybrid PLTS is the first step of many points that we are working on. In the future, PLN will continue to build power plants based on renewable energy," said PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo in a statement in Jakarta, Sunday, March 6, 2022.

Darmawan said the solar panel field would potentially become a tourism object as well as encourage community economic activities through an increasingly reliable electricity system. PLN spent IDR 39.5 billion ($2.8 million) in building the solar panel field which is projected to reduce carbon emissions by 1,400 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

"In addition to aiming to improve the reliability of the Selayar Island electricity system, the presence of the PLTS can also reduce the use of fossil energy and reduce carbon emissions," said Darmawan.

The solar power plant operation makes the total capable power of the electricity system in Selayar at 11.65 megawatts with a peak load of 6.4 megawatts, so that there is still a power reserve of 5.25 megawatts. "We are grateful for the support provided by stakeholders in the construction of the PLTS. Hopefully, it can continue in its operation in the future," said Darmawan.