Southeast Asia's largest floating solar farm buoys Indonesia's net-zero hopes

Indonesia has made a considerable leap towards the realisation of its net-zero-by-2060 ambitions with the installation of theCirata floating solar farm.

Occupying 250 hectares of the surface of the Cirata Reservoir, in the Indonesian province of West Java, the farm is the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia - a testament to the sincerity of the nation's net-zero ambitions. Set to power 50,000 homes, it is expected that the farm will offset 214,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Cirata floating solar farm is the product of a collaborative effort made by both Masdar - an Emirati company, and Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) - Indonesia's state-owned utility company. With Phase II of the project already having been approved, a maximum of 20% of the surface of the Cirata Reservoir has been made available to facilitate the future expansion of the project.

This allocation of increased surface area upon which to develop the farm could see the capacity of the farm maximised to a total of 1.2GW - an astounding figure. It is hoped that Indonesia's clear commitment to the advancement of the project will increase investor confidence, and also rates of technological innovation as a solution to the issue of limited land mass in the face of solar farm development.

Of course, wherever technological innovation is afoot, it is vital that measures be taken to ensure the strong protection of any associated intellectual property. It is reasonable to expect that any technological innovations related to floating solar farm development may be protected through patent protection. Strong patent protection is likely to instill further confidence in potential investors, and considerations as to the rightful owner of any intellectual property developed as a consequence of collaborative efforts (such as those of Masdar and PLN) are also of vital importance.

At Marks & Clerk, we are keen to remain abreast of encouraging technological innovations such as this, and the intellectual property considerations that arise as a result - especially ahead of the commencement of COP28 later this month.

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