Indonesia

Quantum Power Asia and ib vogt have set up a new partnership to build a 3.5 GW solar-plus-storage facility in Riau, Indonesia. The developers say the proposed $5 billion project could export solar electricity to Singapore by 2032.

The European Commission has alleged China offered cut-price finance to Indonesia, via Beijing’s Belt and Road drive, so Jakarta could develop domestic demand for stainless steel raw material nickel ore.

Elsewhere, Chinese researchers have synthesized ultrafine Pd100-xCux nanodot-modified TiO2 photocatalysts that display optimized energy barrier for interfacial hydrogen desertion, which reportedly exhibits excellent H2-evolution activity and stability, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has presented its plans to establish the Takasago Hydrogen Park, calling it the world’s first center for validation of hydrogen-related technologies, from hydrogen production to power generation.

Masdar will explore the development of 1.2GW of solar and potential storage projects in Indonesia for export to Singapore.

Advances in solar power and other clean energy technologies have failed to keep up with demand for electricity as economies rebound from the Covid crisis and China and India’s fossil fuel appetite will ensure the world stays well short of what is needed for a net zero 2050 for at least the next three years.

The new rules will increase the PV net metering factor from 0.65 to 100 and the credit accumulation period from three to six months.

With pressure mounting on the world’s governments to turn their back on the fossil fuel, China and peers in South East Asia, Europe and South Asia could help deliver a coal-free future at the COP26 climate summit planned in Glasgow in November.

The World Bank has agreed to finance part of a project owned by Indonesian state-owned utility, PLN. The facility is planned to enable a larger penetration of renewable energy to provide with power two large demand centers in West Java.

A roadmap to rapid carbon emission reduction has suggested the nation add 2.4 GW of generation capacity next year as part of a 15 GW new-solar target this decade. The claims of solar-plus-storage should be ignored for now, according to a new policy document, because batteries will make PV less competitive with coal.

South-East Asia’s biggest floating PV installation is under construction by Masdar and Indonesian energy company PT PJB. The two companies secured a PPA for the project with state electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) in January 2020. The agreed tariff is $0.0581/kWh.