Tender for solar power plants to be launched in April

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry plans to launch the tender for the construction of solar power plants with combined capacity of 5 megawatt in April this year, Kontan reported on Monday.

Rida Mulyana, the director general of renewable energy and energy conservation, said in Jakarta last week that the government allocated about Rp 579,6 billion in the 2013 state budget for the construction of the solar power plants.

He said that the solar power plants would be developed in rural areas especially in remote islands. According to him, the solar power plants will replace the operation of diesel power plants which at present are still operated to generate power supply in remote areas.

The government is also encouraging the private sector to take part in the development and operation of solar power plants as independent power producers (IPPs), he said. The feed in tariff for the solar power plants has been set at 25 US cent per kilowatt hour (kWh) to attract private companies to build a solar power plant. ?This is the highest selling price for electricity sold to PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara,? he added.

Last year, the government launched 40 tenders for the construction of solar power plants in the country?s rural areas. ?The total capacity of solar power plants which have been built last year reaches 4.5 MW,? he added. (*)