In an effort to develop large-scale solar energy and storage plants that will supply electricity to the Riau Islands and Singapore, Sunseap Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the provincial government of Indonesia’s Riau Islands.
Sunseap Group is a solar energy system developer, owner, and operator in Singapore, with a pipeline of close to 10 GWac of solar energy projects across Asia. Its solar energy systems can be found on more than 3,000 buildings in Singapore, including public housing estates, as well as commercial and industrial buildings.
The MoU covers the availability of 3,000 hectares of land for Sunseap to build solar energy plants and energy storage systems (ESS).
The latest MoU was signed between Sunseap’s Co-founder and Business Chief Executive Officer Frank Phuan and Riau Islands Governor Ansar Ahmad at the Indonesian embassy in Singapore.
CEO Frank Phuan said: “The Riau Islands are uniquely situated to become a major player in the energy transition in Southeast Asia. Sunseap is excited with this opportunity to work with the provincial government to transform the renewable energy landscape in the Riau Archipelago.
“The projects being planned will supply cost-efficient clean energy to surrounding Indonesian communities and Singapore, and importantly, create thousands of jobs in a fast-growing industry for the Riau province.”
Detailed planning
Sunseap has conducted surveys, location mappings, technical planning, and environmental and social impact analyses on several islands in the Riau Islands Province, including Combol and Citlim islands. At Combol, it has looked into the feasibility of a 1,380 megawatt peak (MWp) solar power plant and a 3,000 megawatt hour (MWh) ESS, while on Citlim Island, a 1,682 MWp solar plant and 3,500 MWh ESS.
Both islands lie southwest of Batam island where Sunseap has signed an MoU with BP Batam to build floating photovoltaic and energy storage systems totaling US$2 billion on the Duriangkang reservoir that will be able to generate 2.2 gigawatt-peak of electricity, with storage capacity of more than 6,300MWh.
Frank Phuan added that islands experience higher costs of electricity because of their relatively smaller scale of production and the logistics of supply. “We are confident that solar energy, in addition to helping the Riau Islands decarbonise, will also lead to dramatic long-term cost savings for businesses and communities.”
Pak Ansar said: “We look forward to working with Sunseap and all its international partners to tap the potential of the Riau Islands, which has an abundance of resources needed to produce renewable energy including sun, wind, biomass and biogas.
“With Sunseap’s expertise, we hope to be able to accelerate our plans to transform Riau Islands into a renewable energy hub in Indonesia and to lower energy costs for our people and our industries.”
Almost six months ago, Sunseap signed an MoU with various local and international partners to explore and develop solar power and energy storage systems around the Riau Islands. Some of the prominent MoU parties included BP Batam, PT Mustika Combol Indah, PT Agung Sedayu, Sumitomo Corporation, Samsung C&T Corporation, Oriens Asset Management, ESS Inc and Durapower Group.
