Solar PV in Indonesia: Vast Potential Only Now Being Pursued

The Directorate General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) recorded Indonesia's total renewable energy potential at 3,687 GW, with solar energy as the largest contributor at 3,294 GW. Solar potential is distributed almost evenly: Sumatra 1,173.7 GW, Kalimantan 661.83 GW, Java and Bali 430.15 GW, Nusa Tenggara 412.78 GW, Maluku and Papua 392.9 GW, and Sulawesi 223 GW.

These potential figures should be read with caution. The Ministry of ESDM itself has previously cautioned that comparing installed capacity against potential figures is an imprecise measure, given that Indonesia's renewable energy potential is very large and much of it is located in areas that may not be technically or economically viable. The Directorate General of EBTKE has also published a far smaller solar potential figure—207,898 MW, based on an irradiation level of 4.80 kWh/m²/day—on its page detailing the potential of various renewable energy sources. These two official figures derive from different methodologies and cannot be used interchangeably.

What is more measurable is the rate of addition. Throughout 2025, Indonesia added 1.3 GW of renewable energy generation capacity, the largest addition in the past five years according to Ministry of ESDM records. PLTS contributed the largest share of that addition, at 584.7 MW, followed by hydropower (PLTA) at 531.2 MW, geothermal (PLTP) at 105.2 MW, and bioenergy at 84.5 MW. The renewable energy share of the national energy mix rose from 14.65 percent in 2024 to 15.75 percent in 2025.

The 100 GWp PLTS Program unfolded across two stages of communication throughout 2026. In May 2026, Deputy Minister of ESDM Yuliot stated that the government was accelerating the project by preparing foundational regulations and securing land availability. The initial phase mentioned at that time was 17 GW of PLTS supported by a battery energy storage system (BESS) of around 33 GW. The Ministry of ESDM, together with the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), identified approximately 24,000 hectares of land on Java as potentially suitable for use.

In August 2026, the initial phase that was actually launched was smaller in scale. Through Press Release No. 045.Pers/04/SJI/2026, the Ministry of ESDM announced the launch of 14 PLTS projects across six provinces with a total capacity of approximately 5.3 GWp. The six provinces are West Java, Central Java, East Java, Bali, Bangka Belitung Islands, and Riau Islands. The largest project is the 300 MWp Gilimanuk PLTS in Bali and the 134 MWp Gajah Mungkur Floating PLTS in Central Java, while the smallest is the 0.078 MWp Rengit Island PLTS in Bangka Belitung.

The gap between the 17 GW mentioned in May and the 5.3 GWp launched in August should be understood as a difference between stages, and both remain either targets or newly initiated projects. As of this writing, actually operating PLTS capacity remains in the range of 1.5 GW, while the 2026 performance target for the EBTKE subsector sets installed PLTS capacity at 1,808 MW. Targets and installed capacity are two different things, and the gap between them is the central issue of this year.

A note for readers: official documents use two different units. ESDM news from May 2026 refers to a target of 100 GW, while the August 2026 press release refers to 100 GWp. The unit GWp refers to peak module capacity in direct current, whereas generation capacity is generally reported in MW of alternating current. Because GWp indicates the peak capacity of solar panels while GW generally indicates a power plant's output capacity, the figure of 100 GWp cannot be directly equated with 100 GW. Because GWp indicates the peak capacity of solar modules on the DC side, while generation capacity delivered to the grid is generally stated on the AC side, the figure of 100 GWp cannot be directly treated as 100 GW of AC capacity.

Developing PLTS at a scale of tens of gigawatts shifts the challenge from generation to the system as a whole.

Grid. The Directorate General of EBTKE places transmission infrastructure among the five main challenges of renewable energy development, since renewable energy sources are often located far from centers of consumption. PLN's 2025–2034 RUPTL (Electricity Supply Business Plan) plans the construction of 47,758 circuit-kilometers of transmission and 107,950 MVA of substations, divided among Java-Madura-Bali at 13,889 ckm, Sumatra and Kalimantan at 20,967 ckm, and Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua at 12,901 ckm.

Storage. Solar power production follows daily and weather cycles, so capacity additions need to be read together with storage needs. The RUPTL allocates 10.3 GW of storage through 2034, consisting of 6.0 GW of batteries and 4.3 GW of pumped-storage hydropower. The 33 GW BESS figure cited for the initial phase of the 100 GWp PLTS Program is far above this allocation. This gap in scale indicates that the storage needs of the 100 GWp PLTS Program are not fully reflected in the storage allocation under the current RUPTL.

Land. The identification of 24,000 hectares in Java offers an initial picture of the space required. The government is also opening pathways beyond conventional land-based sites. The Directorate General of EBTKE has recorded potential use of dams owned by the Ministry of Public Works for floating PLTS at 14.7 GW spread across 259 locations. The 192 MWp Cirata Floating PLTS serves as a reference for an already-operating project, and two of the four projects featured at the August 2026 launch are located at reservoirs.

Regulation. Rooftop PLTS installation is governed by Ministerial Regulation of ESDM No. 2 of 2024, which replaced the 100 percent connected-capacity limit with a regional quota system set by the Directorate General of Electricity for five-year periods, while also eliminating the export-import electricity mechanism. The Directorate General of EBTKE has recorded a total Rooftop PLTS quota through 2028 of 1.59 GW. A deregulation package covering rooftop, self-consumption, and inter-business-area cooperation schemes for PLTS remained on the list of regulations still being processed as of March 2026.

PLN's 2025–2034 RUPTL targets an addition of 69.5 GW in generation capacity. Of that total, renewable energy contributes 42.6 GW or 61 percent, fossil-fuel plants 16.6 GW or 24 percent, and storage 10.3 GW or 15 percent. Within the renewable energy share, solar holds the largest position at 17.1 GW, followed by hydropower at 11.7 GW, wind at 7.2 GW, geothermal at 5.2 GW, bioenergy at 0.9 GW, and nuclear at 0.5 GW.

Its regional distribution is uneven. The Directorate General of EBTKE details renewable energy generation additions of 19,643 MW in Java-Madura-Bali with 7,956 MW of storage, 9,841 MW in Sumatra with 1,575 MW of storage, 7,687 MW in Sulawesi, 3,456 MW in Kalimantan with 725 MW of storage, and 2,303 MW in Maluku, Papua, and Nusa Tenggara. For PLTS specifically, the largest addition is in Java-Bali at 10.93 GW.

Its development pace is also phased. The first five years of the RUPTL target 27.9 GW of generation capacity, with 12.2 GW from renewables, while the second five years focus on 37.7 GW of renewables and storage. Here lies the most important finding for policy readers and businesses alike: the 100 GWp target within three years falls outside the scale of PLTS development set out in the 2025–2034 RUPTL, which currently plans an addition of 17.1 GW of PLTS.

Reading both documents together shows that the 100 GWp PLTS Program could require changes to national electricity system planning, with knock-on consequences for transmission, storage, and financing already allocated within the RUPTL. The Ministry of ESDM has not announced a revision to the RUPTL adjusting these figures as of this writing, leaving the relationship between the two documents an open question.

The Ministry of ESDM projects that the 100 GWp PLTS Program could create 5.52 million cumulative jobs, consisting of 3.5 million in the solar panel and BESS industry and 2 million in construction. The program is also projected to save the state budget (APBN) more than Rp73 trillion per year by replacing diesel and gas generation, save 6 million kiloliters of diesel per year, and reduce emissions by 140.16 million tons of CO₂ per year, with a carbon economic value of Rp6.31 trillion.

These figures are government projections for a newly launched program. By comparison, for renewable energy and storage development under the RUPTL, the Directorate General of EBTKE estimates investment needs of Rp1,682.4 trillion, absorption of 760,000 green jobs, and an emissions reduction of 129.5 million tons of CO₂. The RUPTL as a whole opens up investment opportunities worth Rp2,967.4 trillion and is expected to create more than 1.7 million new jobs, with around 73 percent of generation capacity planned through independent power producer schemes.

The industrial question lies in supply readiness. The Directorate General of EBTKE records 25 domestic solar module manufacturers with a production capacity of 4.8 GWp per year in 2025 and a domestic component level of 40 to 55 percent. Three manufacturers with capacity above 1 GW per year contribute 3,960 MWp of that total. The Directorate General of EBTKE describes the additional 17 GW target in the RUPTL as a potential market for the domestic module industry.

If the 100 GWp target were divided evenly over three years, the average construction required would reach approximately 33.3 GWp per year. Domestic module production capacity of 4.8 GWp per year is equivalent to about 14 percent of that figure. This comparison is not a direct measure of national installation capability, but it illustrates the scale of additional supply that would be needed if construction were to rely on domestic production.

Broken down prerequisite by prerequisite, the picture is uneven.

On the resources side, Indonesia's position is strong, though the potential figures should be read as technical estimates, while the portion that is economically ready for development is much smaller and has not been published separately. On the policy side, the direction is clear: the 100 GW PLTS Program is included as a strategic program of the Ministry of ESDM for fiscal year 2026 under the Energy Security agenda, and the program has already been officially launched. On the generation side, realization remains small, with 1,494 MW installed at the end of 2025 and a target of 1,808 MW for 2026.

On the grid, storage, and industry side, the readiness gap is most apparent. The RUPTL plans 47,758 circuit-kilometers of transmission and 6 GW of batteries over a decade, while the initial phase of the 100 GWp PLTS Program alone is said to require around 33 GW of BESS. Domestic module production capacity of 4.8 GWp per year confronts an installation pace that is far faster. On the financing side, the Directorate General of EBTKE estimates renewable energy investment needs through 2034 at USD 90 billion, before factoring in additions from the 100 GWp program.

Indonesia no longer lacks reasons to build PLTS. The challenge now is turning solar energy potential that has long existed only on paper into electricity capacity that is actually operating. The program already has locations, initial projects, target figures, and budgetary backing. Its measure of success will be read in installed-capacity reports in the years ahead, with planning documents serving only as the starting point. The most worthwhile indicators to monitor throughout 2027 are three: the realization of installed PLTS capacity against annual EBTKE targets, the setting of quotas and the selection of tender winners for initial-phase projects, and adjustments to transmission and storage plans in subsequent planning documents.

Indonesia no longer lacks reasons to build PLTS. The challenge now is turning solar energy potential that has long existed only on paper into electricity capacity that is actually operating.

References

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Kementerian Energi dan Sumber Daya Mineral. (2026, 25 Agustus). Dari Gilimanuk hingga Pulau Rengit, Program PLTS 100 GWp dorong kemandirian energi nasional (Siaran Pers No. 045.Pers/04/SJI/2026). https://www.esdm.go.id/id/media-center/arsip-berita/dari-gilimanuk-hingga-pulau-rengit-program-plts-100-gwp-dorong-kemandirian-energi-nasional (Diakses 8 September 2026)

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