Massive floating powerstations coming to Indonesia

New plan to give electricity to the islands using huge gas-burning barges.

Indonesia will launch five floating powerstations, it has been announced this week. The first, a converted ship-carrying ship, will enter service in North Sulawesi by the end of the year. The ships will be run by a turkish company, and serve the eastern Islands of Sulawesi, Halmahera, Maluku and Papua. They are powered by natural gas, but the country is also looking into floating nuclear power stations. In September, Indonesia’s National Nuclear Energy Agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Russia to look at floating nuclear power stations and onshore facilities. "Every time I go to [outer] regions it's the same complaint: electricity crisis [and] blackouts," President Widodo said at the launch of the first, Reuters reports. "Because we are an archipelago, I think power stations on top of ships that are mobile like this are best for Indonesia," he added.