Facebook to buy power from offshore PV plant in Singapore

Singapore-based renewables developer Sunseap will sell power to Facebook in Singapore through a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA).

The electricity will be provided by a 5 MW offshore floating PV array that Sunseap operates in the Straits of Johor.

“The energy from the 5 MW offshore floating photovoltaic system will be exported to the national grid,” the company said. “All renewable energy credits (RECs) from the project will be transferred to Facebook under the VPPA and will support the tech company’s operations in Singapore, including Facebook’s first custom–built data center in Asia.”

Singapore’s Economic Development Board supported the project. The array was originally designed to provide power to the grid over a 25-year period. Floating PV is of particular interest in countries such as Singapore, where the availability of land is a major obstacle to the deployment of ground-mounted PV projects.

Last August, a unit of Sembcorp Industries began working on a 60 MW floating solar power plant at the Tengeh Reservoir. The solar facility will provide electricity under a 25-year power purchase agreement with the Public Utilities Board. The Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore has been using the Tengeh Reservoir as a test bed for floating solar since 2017.