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Indonesia: PJB-Masdar solar park project delayed over ‘legal matters’

The development of the Cirata floating photovoltaic (PV) power station in West Java has been postponed until next year, as the stakeholders are still evaluating the legality of the project.

Once completed, the 200-megawatt (MW) solar park would become the largest of its kind in the world.

The development project’s main stakeholders are PT Pembangkitan Jawa Bali (PJB), a subsidiary of state-owned electricity firm PLN, and the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) renewable energy company, Masdar.

After meeting with Masdar representatives in Jakarta on Thursday, Energy and Mineral Resources Deputy Minister Arcandra Tahar said that Masdar had asked for more time to discuss “legal matters” over the project with PLN.

Arcandra said these issues included PLN’s scheme for selecting the project’s developer. “It is a regulatory issue. PLN is much more careful now [in choosing the developer],” he said.

PJB and Masdar signed the MoU on developing the US$300 million floating power station in November 2017. A follow-up agreement was signed in May 2018, when UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei visited Indonesia.

Arcandra said PLN and Masdar would soon submit to the government a to-do-list drafted from evaluating their pretransaction agreement (PTA).

The PTA was evaluated amid the ongoing bribery case into the Riau-1 PLTU coal-fired power plant, an energy project in Riau that also involves PJB. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/11/09/pjb-masdar-solar-park-project-delayed-over-legal-matters.html