SBS INTL Ltd. (London, U.K.; www.sbsintl.com) and Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kan.; www.bv.com) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of commercial-scale tidal current projects in Indonesia. The MoU was facilitated by the recent BKPM trade summit, held in London, and attended by the Indonesian president and senior ministers from both Indonesia and Great Britain.
Indonesia is one of the world’s largest archipelagos and has the potential for significant volumes of marine energy. The MoU follows feasibility studies and is expected to lead to an initial facility of 12 MW, potentially expanding to 150 MW in the future.
“This important renewable energy project has the potential to make a significant contribution to meeting Indonesia’s energy needs, especially on remote islands. The U.K.’s tidal current energy technology expertise is among the most advanced in the world. We are delighted SBS has selected Black & Veatch to help use it for the benefit of communities in Indonesia,” says Tim Baker, technical director, Tidal Energy, Black & Veatch.
“After more than three years of research into Indonesia’s archipelagic ocean resources, resulting in an exclusive offshore site development agreement with state-owned utility PLN, SBS welcomes Black & Veatch’s global power expertise and U.K. tidal current experience. Black & Veatch has more than 40 years experience delivering energy projects in Indonesia and I am delighted with the support provided by Tim and his team during the feasibility study phase. As a result, I am confident Black & Veatch’s world-class input will greatly enhance the quality of our engineering deliverables on this project and we look forward to working with them throughout the development engineering and turbine manufacturing phases,” says SBS Group chairman and CEO, Michael J. Spencer.