Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman, Jakarta – Bottled water manufacturer Danone-AQUA and soft drink manufacturer Coca Cola Amatil Indonesia have installed rooftop solar power systems at their respective plants, as the companies aim to boost the use of renewables and cut emissions.
Danone-AQUA placed more than 8,300 solar panels on the rooftop of its plant in Klaten regency in Central Java in late August.
The solar power system, developed by French oil giant Total's subsidiary Total Solar Distributed Generation, is claimed to be the largest solar power system (PLTS) on a rooftop to be installed by a manufacturer in the province.
With a capacity of 2.91 megawatts peak (MWp), the solar power system can generate 4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity every year. Such an output can contribute around 15 to 20 percent to the power needed for running the Klaten plant's operations, the company claimed.
"Our PLTS is one of the large-scale installations," I Ketut Muwaranata, the director of Danon-AQUA's plant in Klaten regency said in a virtual presser on Tuesday, adding that it was a show of support for the government's renewable energy program.
Since late August, Danone-AQUA has generated 521.94 megawatt-hours (MWh) with the solar power system, according to Muwaranata.
The company estimated the rooftop solar power system had reduced its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 314 tons in a month, which would be equivalent to planting around 29,776 trees.
The launch of Danone-AQUA's solar power system came at a time when the government was trying to close the gap between the actual share of renewables in the country's primary energy mix and its target. Regulations stipulate that Indonesia should have reached 17.5 percent renewable energy by 2019, but only 12.36 percent of the country's energy use that year came from renewable sources.
The government is aiming at having renewables account for 23 percent of the primary energy mix in 2025.
Vera Galuh Sugijanto, the vice president general secretary at Danone-AQUA, said the company was planning to install solar power systems at 17 plants with a capacity of 15.6 MWp in total by 2023.
With such capacity, it is expected to generate a total of 21 GWh of electricity and slash the company's CO2 emissions by more than 16,000 tons.
"The collaboration with the government is expected to provide an operational framework and better regulations, and incentives for doubling down our commitment to green energy for us and other industries with similar intentions," said Vera.
Coca Cola Amatil Indonesia also recently launched what it claimed to be the largest rooftop solar power system to be installed at a manufacturing facility in Southeast Asia.
With an investment of Rp 87 billion (US$5.8 million), Coca Cola Amatil Indonesia installed the solar power system on the rooftop of its plant in Cikarang in Bekasi regency in West Java.
The rooftop solar power system has a capacity of 7.34 MWp and can generate 9.6 GWh every year.
Coca Cola Amatil Indonesia estimated that the solar power system could slash the company's CO2 emissions by more than 9,800 tons every year – nearly three times higher than the estimated annual emissions cut of Danone-AQUA's Klaten plant.
As a comparison, Coca Cola Amatil Indonesia's solar panels stretch 72,000 square meters and the ones at Danone-AQUA's Klaten plant stretch 16,550 sq m.
Harris Yahya, the director of various new energy and renewable energy at the Energy Ministry, said Tuesday he was expecting more businesses to follow suit as the cost of renewables had become cheaper and the technology had become more efficient despite the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"If we talk about renewable energy, the challenges are still huge, especially with the COVID-19 situation," Harris said in Danone-AQUA's virtual presser.
"The demand for electricity is falling drastically. In Java, the decline reached 10 percent. It has an impact on the penetration of renewable energy," he added.