floating PV

Following its decision to switch from fixed feed-in tariffs to reverse auction bidding for the setting of solar incentives, the Vietnamese government has decided to devote the first two pilot auctions to floating PV. A first procurement exercise, for a project which could reach 100 MW of generation capacity, will be held this year.

Southern Water has issued a request for information about sourcing solar power through bilateral power purchase agreements. The company is considering buying electricity from generation facilities on its sites in southern England.

Scientists have developed a new mathematical model which indicates floating solar on fish farms could be a lucrative option in land-scarce Taiwan. Although floating arrays could hinder fish production, the losses would be largely compensated by electricity-related income.

The 8.5 kW pilot project, which was launched in February 2018, will soon be expanded to 50 kW. The Dutch consortium behind the installation eventually plans to expand it to 1 MW and then up to 100 MW at a later stage. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) provided financial backing for the project.

A delegation from the Asian Development Bank recently paid a visit to the South Asian country to assess the prospects of floating PV in a nation that suffers from a general lack of land upon which to develop new renewable energy projects.

The Alqueva Dam on the Guadiana River, in southern Portugal, will host ten floating PV projects mostly financed by a €45 million Council of Europe Development Bank loan.

Romande Energie is deploying a 448 kW floating array on the surface of Lac des Toules, a reservoir located at an altitude of 1,810 meters in the Swiss Alps. The installation will likely operate under heavy weather conditions, but it is also expected to produce 50% more power than similar projects built in the plain.

The Fresher project, funded by the EU’s European Maritime and Fishery Fund, aims to develop better and cheaper mooring and anchoring systems for floating solar. The initiative is backed by Portugal utility EDP, which has recently begun to install floating projects.

A new handbook published by the World Bank and Solar Research Institute of Singapore contains advice on how to plan and build floating PV. The guide is intended to help developers with site identification; feasibility studies; finance; environmental and social issues; procurement and construction; and operations and maintenance.

Floating PV installations in Asia may be much larger but the trend is catching on in the EU and, pending a supportive regulatory environment and incentives, the technology could offer several dozen gigawatts of generation capacity in Europe.