Emerging challenges and solutions of two FPVs in Indonesia

Aries Firman Hendriyawan

Indonesia Dam Safety Commission Institut Teknologi Bandung
Sapta Taruna Raya, Komplek P.U Pasar Jum'at, Ganesha 10
Jakarta Selatan, 12310 Bandung
Indonesia West Java, Indonesia

Introduction
Indonesia as the world’s largest archipelago, comprising more than 17,000 islands, 521 natural lakes, and more than
200 man-made reservoirs, has a large potential in renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, tidal, water, and
geothermal. Renewable energy, such as Floating PV, potentially has various benefits such as positive impacts on
energy security, economic, and air pollution. In the past decade, Floating PV as a technology is becoming more
competitive than other energy sources. Currently, Indonesia is focusing to build two floating PV (FPV) plants,
namely Cirata Dam and Krenceng Dam Reservoir. The PV plants are located on Java Island about 150 km from
Jakarta to the east and west side as shown in Fig. 1, respectively.
The 145 MW at Cirata entered the EPC stage in early 2021 while the 14 MW at Krenceng remains in the preparation
stage. As the first project in the FPV plant, the Cirata is also one of the national strategic projects (PSN), as the
government aims to boost the contribution of renewable energy sources in Indonesia. This paper presents the
challenges at each project site that require specific attention for various critical matters such as the design criteria and
the dam safety aspects that shall be considered in designing the FPV plants. This paper also includes the proposed
solutions.

Fig. 1. Location of PV Plants in Indonesia

1. Background
The planned location of both FPV plants is relatively close to Dam. Therefore, the Ministry of Public Works &
Housing Indonesia as a government authority that assists the Indonesian President in formulating policy and
coordination in the public works sectors, announced a new regulation on the use of dam reservoirs as amendments to
the previous regulation number 27/2015 regarding the dam. Several issues need to be highlighted in the new
regulation number 6/2020 such as:
a. dam safety.
b. reservoir functions
 c. social, economic, and culturally specific issues, and
d. the destructive force of water
The regulation promotes several aspects that need to be implemented in designing the FPV plants such as:
- FPV must be a safe distance from the water flow towards the intake of the dam.
- FPV grid must be a safe distance from the flow of water to the dam spillway.
- FPV does not obstruct the reservoir and dam inspection boat route.
- FPV does not obstruct the route of moving the crane bar towards the spillway and intake.
- FPV safe from natural disturbances (strong winds, high waves, strong currents).
- A thorough evaluation on the interaction between the newly constructed solar panel and existing informal
fishery industry must be undertaken.
- A thorough evaluation of the impact of the floating panel on the environment and the water quality in the
reservoir and the public safety around the dam location must be undertaken.
- Ensure that the floating panel shall support water quality management in the reservoir.

2. Design Criteria
The local specified design criteria for FPV plants in Indonesia is still unavailable at this moment yet. Currently,
serious discussions are underway in Indonesia Dam Safety Commission (IDSC) to set the design criteria. All the
relevant standards both from local and international are considered in the proposed design criteria such as:
- SNI 1726:2019: The standard for Earthquake Resistance Planning for Building Structures
- SNI 8460:2017: Geotechnical and Seismic Design.
- SNI 1727: 2020: Minimum design loads and associated criteria for buildings and other structures.
- Decree of Ministry of Public Works & Housing No.27/2015
- Decree of Ministry of Public Works & Housing No.6/2020
- DNVGL-RP-0584 (2021): Design, development, and operation of floating solar photovoltaic systems
- DNVGL-OS-E301 (2018): Position Mooring
- BV NI 605 (2014): Geotechnical and Foundation Design
- BV NR 493 (2015): Classification of Mooring Systems for Permanent and Mobile Offshore Units
- API RP-2SK (2005): Design and Analysis of Station Keeping Systems for Floating Structures
The main issues in the design criteria are concerning environmental loads (such as the wind, wave, current, and
seismicity), the return period, and the minimum safety factors of the floating structures including the anchors and
moorings.

3. Seismic Safety Issues

Indonesia is located in the most active belts in the world, also well known as the Ring of Fire, i.e., the Circum-
Pacific belt. This belt contributes about 90% of the world's (Kramer, 1996). Therefore, seismic activities need to be
considered in designing structures or infrastructures in Indonesia. The level of seismic activity shall be assessed
especially if an identified active fault near the project location. For dam safety, the return period of earthquake shall
follow the Operating Basis Earthquake (OBE) and Safety Evaluation Earthquake (SEE) of the Dam. This
information is required for the assessment of reservoir slope stability by considering the soil conditions and the
earthquake loads following local code, i.e., SNI 8460-2017.
It is planned the box anchors will be used as an anchoring system for the floating structure in Cirata Dam Reservoir.
The concrete box anchor is equipped with ribs that penetrate the lakebed. Due to the surface contour of the lakebed,
there is a potential for landslide due to the earthquake activities. This potential needs to be assessed to mitigate the
possibility of anchor failures.

4. Safety Factor Issues

The numbers of safety factors are still under discussion in IDSC. The international guideline and manuals such as
API RP-2SK (2005), BV NR 493 (2015), and DNVGL-RP-0584 (2021) propose the criteria of safety factors for
designing anchor and mooring. The problem arises when the international guidelines or manuals proposed the
criteria relatively different from the Indonesian standard (SNI). For instance, the load factors proposed by DNVGL-
RP-0584 (2021) depend on the risk category. In SNI, load factors are the same for all risk categories. The only
difference is the level of environmental load considered. As per SNI, for wind load, the increase is achieved by
adopting wind load with a longer return period. While for earthquake load, the increase is achieved by multiplying
the earthquake load with important factors. Therefore, some of the criteria need to be adjusted to be fit with the local
conditions. In preparing the design criteria, the local standard will be put on top of the hierarchy.
5. Conclusion
The Floating PV (FPV) plant located near the dam is relatively new in the world, especially in Indonesia. Therefore,
the design needs to be considered safety aspects regarding the dam facilities. Presently, Indonesia is preparing the
standard for designing the FPV by considering local aspects such as environmental, social, and culturally specific
issues. Due to Indonesia has been well known as one of the most seismically active countries in the world, the
seismic activity shall be assessed for the purpose of dam safety.
Some issues arise and subject to be discussed for designing FPV plants such as:
1. How to set the maximum percentage of FPV surface area from the dam reservoir (DR) area at normal water level
(NWL)?
2. What about the safety factor for seismicity as an extreme event near the FPV-DR location?
3. How ICOLD Bulletin on FPV could be used as a reference in the near future covering all major issues, including
the design criteria & governance in a global context?

References
1. American Petroleum Institute (API), “Design and Analysis of Station keeping Systems for Floating Structures”,
Recommended Practice 2SK, API RP 2SK, 2005.
2. Bureau Veritas (BV), “Guidance Note NI 605 DT R00 E - Geotechnical and Foundation Design”, 2014.
3. Bureau Veritas (BV), “Rule Note NR 493 DT R03 E - Classification of Mooring Systems for Permanent and Mobile
Offshore Units”, 2015.
4. DNVGL, “DNVGL-OS-E301 Position Mooring”, Offshore standard, 2018.
5. DNVGL, “Design, Development, And Operation of Floating Solar Photovoltaic Systems”, Recommended Practice, 2021.
6. Kramer, S.L., “Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering”, Handbook, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 1996.
7. The National Standardization Agency of Indonesia, “Geotechnical and Seismic Design”, Indonesian National Standard
SNI 8460-2017, 2017.
8. The National Standardization Agency of Indonesia, “The standard for Earthquake Resistance Planning for Building and
non-Building Structures”, Indonesian National Standard, SNI 1726-2019, 2019.
9. The National Standardization Agency of Indonesia, “Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings And
Other Structures”, Indonesian National Standard, SNI 1726-2020, 2020.

The Authors

Aries Firman, graduate Civil Engineer in 1977 from Bandung Institute of Technology (Indonesia) and PhD in 2005 from Curtin
University of Technology (Australia). He started the activity in dam project with a construction company in 1981 and continuously
getting involved up to now as a member of Indonesia Dam Safety Commission under Ministry of Public Works and Housing. He
also serves the Indonesia National Committee on Large Dams (INACOLD) from 1986 and currently as the Vice Chairman. Aries
is now a member of Technical Committee T of ICOLD as well as a member of International Scientific Committee of ICOLD
Symposium 2021 in Marseille.

Hendriyawan, graduate Civil Engineer in 1996 from Bandung Institute of Technology (Indonesia) and Ph.D. in 2007 from
University Teknologi Malaysia. He involves in several geotechnical projects since 1996 and has a professional certification from
the Indonesian Society for Geotechnical Engineering (ISGE) as a Senior Geotechnical Expert (G-2) and also a member of the
International Society for Soil Mechanic and Geotechnical Engineering (INA-ISSMGE). He was also involved in several committees
for establishing Indonesian codes such as SNI 8460-2017, SNI 1726-2019, and SNI 8899:2020.