Govt ups Sembur Laut solar pilot to 1 MW under 100 GW program

By Raymond Hendriawan

The government has increased the capacity of a solar pilot project on Sembur Laut Island in Riau Islands province to 1 megawatt-peak (MWp) from an initial 0.4 MW design, following direction from President Prabowo Subianto, a senior official said.

The project is part of the president’s 100 gigawatt (GW) national solar initiative and broke ground on Dec. 20, 2025. It integrates solar power generation with fisheries infrastructure under a cooperative-based model.

“We originally planned a 0.4 megawatt pilot. But when it was reported to the President, he said it must be 1 megawatt. So we changed it,” Panel Barus, Deputy for Institutional Development and Digitalization at the Ministry of Cooperatives, said during the IESR Report Launching on Solar Archipelago: Delivering 100 GW Solar PV Program in Indonesia.

As of February 2026, the Sembur Laut project comprises a 1 MWp solar plant, a 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system, a 5-ton cold storage facility and a 4-ton-per-day ice production unit.

Total capital expenditure is estimated at Rp 23 billion ($1.37 million), with annual operating and maintenance costs projected at Rp 400 million.

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Panel said the project is not designed as a commercial retail electricity business, but rather as an energy-supported fisheries initiative led by the local Merah Putih Cooperative (KKMP) in Galang Baru district.

“This is not an investment to sell electricity to households. It is solar investment to support the local fisheries industry,” he said.

The cold storage facility will allow fishermen to preserve their catch and help stabilise prices, while the ice maker will supply ice for fishing trips. Any surplus electricity may be distributed among cooperative members, but no commercial power sales mechanism is planned.

Financial projections indicate the project could break even within five to six years of full operation, with cumulative profits of about Rp 4.71 billion expected for the cooperative.

Sembur Laut is the first of three planned 1 MW pilot projects representing western, central and eastern Indonesia. The pilots aim to test the integration of solar power, battery storage and cooperative-based commodity businesses before wider rollout under the 100 GW solar program.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak