Floating solar

A local environmental organization has published pictures of the stranded array which appeared last week on two beaches. Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department is currently investigating where the installation came from.

The South African government is looking for independent power producers to build and operate floating or ground-mounted PV projects at selected government waterworks infrastructure or damns. The projects should be operational for 20 years.

Scientists from the United States and Brazil have developed four different ways to estimate the temperature of floating PV modules. They validated the models with temperature measurements from a floating solar plant in Brazil.

An international group of researchers has calculated the potential for floating solar across the world. The results show a generation potential of 9,434 TWh per year across 114,555 global reservoirs, with 30% of their area covered. The United States leads with 1,911 TWh per year of potential, followed by China at 1,107 TWh per year and Brazil at 865 TWh per year.

Floating solar specialists Ocean Sun and Inseanergy have been involved in a patent dispute over Ocean Sun’s floating solar structure since August 2022. The companies have now announced a settlement, with a “positive result” for both parties.

Indonesia is a coal-dependent country in which conventional power grids are problematic. The archipelagic nation is turning to floating PV (FPV) to help accelerate its energy transition. Sorta Caroline takes a look at the state of play for water-borne solar and the problems that still need to be overcome.

Tractebel, DEME, and Jan De Nul will deploy a pilot offshore floating PV facility off the Belgian coast in the summer. The Seavolt floating platform is reportedly able to withstand difficult offshore conditions.

Brazilian scientists have calculated the potential for floating solar generation in Brazil. The results show an installed potential of 43 GW for all of Brazil, with the state of Minas Gerais leading with 6 GW, followed by Bahia with 4.59 GW, and Sao Paulo with 3.87 GW.

NTPC Renewable Energy (NTPC REL), on behalf of its joint venture with DVC, has launched bidding for the construction of 260 MW of floating solar capacity and 50 MW of ground-mount PV projects at DVC reservoirs in India.

BayWa re’s ECOwind subsidiary and Austrian energy supplier EVN have finished building a 24.5 MWp floating PV plant in Grafenwörth, Austria. They claim it is the biggest such installation in Central Europe.