Construction begins on 60 MW floating solar plant in Singapore

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The Sembcorp Floating Solar Singapore unit of utilities and marine group Sembcorp Industries has begun work on a 60 MW floating solar power plant at the Tengeh reservoir. “This follows positive trial outcomes and extensive environmental studies which show that floating solar panels have minimal impact on the reservoir’s water quality and biodiversity,” the company stated.

The solar facility will provide power under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) signed by the treatment facilities of national water utility the Public Utilities Board, which selected Singaporean company Sembcorp for the project in late February. Around 7% of the agency’s power demand will be met by the floating PV plant.

The installation will rely on double-glass panels supplied by an unnamed provider and certified food-grade quality, high-density polyethylene floats which are UV-resistant to prevent degradation from the intense sunlight, the company said, without disclosing further technical details.

“To optimize performance and reliability of operations, the system is backed by a digital monitoring platform which features safety cameras, live video monitoring, dashboards and alerts that help to track environmental factors such as wind speed, solar irradiation and ambient temperature,” said Sembcorp. “The system also detects abnormalities that may indicate potential overheating and fire hazard, for preemptive troubleshooting.”

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Project completion is scheduled for next year and Norwegian technical consultancy DNV GL has been appointed technical advisor for the project.

The Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore has been using the Tengeh Reservoir as a test bed for floating solar since 2017.

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