Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised PT PLN (Persero) (“PLN”), Indonesia’s state utility, on the development and financing of Indonesia’s first co-located solar PV and battery energy storage system (“BESS”) which will power Indonesia’s future capital city Ibu Kota Nusantara (“IKN”) on the island of Kalimantan.
As well as being the country’s first co-located BESS and solar PV project, it is also the first renewable energy project to be developed and financed for Indonesia’s new capital and the first project to reach financial close after changes arising from PLN’s holding-subholding corporate reorganisation.
Through its subsidiary PLN Nusantara Power, PLN is the majority owner of the project, which is being developed jointly with Sembcorp. PLN is also the offtaker of the project. Leading Singapore-based Infrastructure Credit Platform Clifford Capital and SocGen acted as lenders.
Covering 87 hectares, the 50 MW solar plant and 14.2 MWh BESS will produce an estimated 92.8 GWh renewable energy for IKN. It features 114,420 625 MWp bifacial solar PV modules and 126 lithium iron phosphate battery packs, as well as 200 kW and 300 kW inverters and PV smart transformer stations.
The WFW Asia Pacific Projects team that advised PLN was led by Energy Sector Head – Asia Pacific Clarinda Tjia-Dharmadi and included Partner Merrick White as well as Michelle Vickers and Tram Nguyen.
