Indonesia launches Southeast Asia's largest floating solar plant

ANKARA

Indonesian President Joko Widodo launched Southeast Asia's largest floating solar plant Thursday in West Java province, according to media reports.

The $145 million plant occupies 250 hectares (617 acres) above the Cirata Reservoir.

"Today is a historical day because our big dream of building a large-scale renewable energy plant is finally achieved. We managed to build the largest floating solar plant in Southeast Asia, and the third biggest in the world," Widodo said at an inaugural ceremony, the Jakarta Post reported.

The power plant, a collaboration between Indonesia's state electricity corporation PLN and the United Arab Emirates energy company Masdar, was constructed by China's PowerChina Huadong Engineering Corporation Ltd.

With more than 340,000 solar panels, the 192-megawatt peak capacity plant can generate 300 million kilowatt hours of energy annually.

Indonesia, in recent years, has encouraged renewable energy projects in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions and pursue a target of net zero emissions by 2060.