Using EO to Address Planning Challenges for Floating Solar in Indonesia
Earth Observation data supports early planning for floating solar PV in Indonesia by providing consistent, up-to-date insights on reservoir conditions, environmental risks and social impacts to help identify sustainable sites.
Description
Indonesia’s push to expand renewable energy, particularly solar power, faces major land-availability challenges due to dense populations, competing land uses and environmental sensitivities. Floating solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on reservoirs are emerging as a promising alternative, but they introduce their own environmental, technical and social complexities.
To support early planning and site selection, UNOPS and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), with the help of the GDA Clean Energy consortium, are using Earth Observation (EO) data to provide consistent, up-to-date environmental information. EO plays a central role in the 1 GW Solar Mapping and Development Project, led by the Southeast Asia Energy Transition Partnership (ETP), which aims to identify and prioritise suitable ground-mounted and floating solar sites across Java, Madura and Bali (JAMALI).
EO data helps overcome gaps in outdated or inconsistent national datasets by:
- Updating reservoir extent, depth and seasonal water variability using long-term satellite records
- Assessing environmental hazards such as floods and earthquakes
- Mapping urban growth, electrification progress and solar potential
- Providing detailed, site-specific analyses for priority reservoirs (Cirata, Saguling and Jatiluhur)
You can read more about this Case Study here: Understanding the planning challenges for floating solar PV in Indonesia