SembCorp to develop solar, energy storage facility in Indonesia

Singapore-listed Sembcorp Industries will develop a large-scale integrated solar and energy storage facility in Indonesia's Batam, Bintan and Karimun (BBK) region, the company announced yesterday.

The sustainable energy and urban development company has signed an exclusive joint development agreement with Batam's utility company PLN Batam and Indonesian renewable energy developer Trisurya Mitra Bersama (Suryagen) to carry out the project.

The facility will have the capacity to generate 1 gigawatt-peak of solar power and consist of a large-scale energy storage system. This will support the clean energy needs of two markets, as the renewable power generated on-site will meet the clean energy needs of the local BBK communities and it has been proposed that it be transmitted into Singapore via subsea cables.

The signing of the agreement was held on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week, during which the Singapore Energy Market Authority announced that it will issue requests for proposals for low-carbon electricity imports into Singapore by 2035.

The project, which is expected to support about 1,000 direct and indirect jobs in Indonesia and Singapore during the construction phase, is in line with Singapore's plan to harness regional clean energy sources and could potentially contribute significantly to the Republic's transition to a clean energy future, Sembcorp said in a statement.

Sembcorp's group president and chief executive Wong Kim Yin said the project "will mark yet another step in Sembcorp's transition from brown to green, while contributing to the region's energy transition".

Sembcorp entered the Indonesian market in 1990, where it has since developed three industrial parks and brought in US$3.5 billion (S$4.7 billion) in foreign investments. It has also imported natural gas from West Natuna to Singapore since 2001 and is currently Singapore's largest natural gas supplier.

The company said: "Sembcorp has been a long-term partner to Indonesia and aims to develop more renewable energy projects in the market to contribute to Indonesia's energy transition."

Indonesia is aiming to achieve a renewable energy mix of 23 per cent by 2025, up from 11 per cent currently. It recently announced up to 4.7GW of new solar capacity by 2030 under a national electricity procurement plan.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 26, 2021, with the headline SembCorp to develop solar, energy storage facility in Indonesia. Subscribe