The biggest floating solar farm is coming!
Energy firm Sunseap Group is building the world's largest floating solar farm and power
storage system on the Indonesian island of Batam.
The great news was announced on July 21.
The US$2 billion complex will be a part of the Duriangkang Reservoir in southern Batam
island, near Singapore, with construction beginning next year and is planned to be completed
in 2024.
The enormous solar farm is part of the country's plan to use solar energy as a crucial part
of its efforts to reach its sustainability goals under the Singapore Green Plan 2030.
With 122,000 solar panels spanning more than 110 acres, the installation will be created
by Sembcorp Floating Solar Singapore, an entirely owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries, together
with the National Water Agency PUB.
The field will have a peak production of and will make Singapore one of the few countries
in the world to wholly power its waterworks system with renewable energy!
The electricity produced from the solar farm will be enough to power Singapore's five local
water treatment plants, equaling about seven percent of PUB's annual energy requirements
and reducing PUB's carbon footprint.
It is planned to reduce carbon emissions by about 32 kilotons annually.
Wong Kim Yin, the President & CEO of Sembcorp Industries, declared: "The Sembcorp Tengeh
Floating Solar Farm is a cherry on a cake of our portfolio and a showcase for Singapore.
Sembcorp owns over 3,300 megawatts of renewable energy assets around the world.
We are dedicated and have the track record and competencies to support the Singapore
Green Plan."
Construction of the floating solar PV system was initiated in August 2020.
Designed, built, owned, and managed by Sembcorp, the project involved new and innovative ways
of working, like conceptualizing and implementing a new engineering and construction method
to design a custom-built jig that increased the rate of solar panel construction by up
to 50%!
Partnering with Quantified Energy Labs from the National University of Singapore, this
project is also the first globally to deploy advanced drone imaging.
It will identify defects that could be caused by various factors from the manufacturing
to the installation stage.
Finding and replacing defective modules from the beginning has ensured that the PV system
is running in optimal condition.
"With this floating solar power plant, which is considered to be one of the biggest in
the world, PUB takes a huge step towards enduring energy sustainability in water treatment,"
said Ng Joo Hee, Chief Executive of PUB.
"Solar energy is abundant, clean and green, and is key to reducing PUB's and also Singapore's
carbon footprint."
PUB's majorly cared about deploying solar panels.
What will be the potential impact on the surrounding environment, biodiversity, and water quality?
A thorough environmental impact study was carried out, showing no observable change
in water quality nor a significant impact on surrounding wildlife.
The farm was designed to minimize the effect on the water quality, flora, and fauna.
Considerable gaps between solar panels were incorporated to improve the airflow and allow
enough sunlight to reach aquatic life.
Additional aerators were also added to maintain oxygen levels in the reservoir.
The floats are made using high-density polyethylene that is totally recyclable, UV-resistant,
and corrosion-resistant.
At the final stage of the construction, the floating solar farm is projected to have a
capacity of 2.2 gigawatt-peak and will cross around
The energy storage system will hold a capacity topping 4,000 megawatt-hours.
Possibly offsetting over 1.8 million metric tons of carbon a year will be the equivalent
of taking around 400,000 cars off the road a year.
Additionally, the floating solar panels will help to reduce evaporation by retaining more
water within the reservoir.
Besides, the water will keep the solar panels cool, thereby generating more clean energy
and creating synergistic cooperation."
The energy generated and stored will supply people around the clock.
Some energy will be consumed by Batam, while the rest could be exported to Singapore approximately
31 miles away using a subsea cable.
Sunseap also wants to set up an academy in Batam to support the hiring and transferring
skills to more than 3,000 locals to be involved in the project.
Sunseap co-founder stated: "This hyper-scale project is a significant milestone for Sunseap,
coming soon after we had completed Singapore's first offshore floating solar farm on the
Strait of Johor.
We believe that floating solar systems will go a long way to address the land forces that
urbanized parts of Southeast Asia face in tapping renewable energy."
BP Batam chairman Muhammad Rudi continued: "This investment by Sunseap will be a timely
boost for Batam's industries as they also want to reduce the carbon footprint of their
operations.
At the same time, it will create jobs and transfer skills to Batam's clean energy sector.
So far, the most giant operational floating solar power plant was located in China.
While China and India together hold six of the world's ten biggest floating solar projects
in different stages of development, South Korea accounts for two.
It also is one of the main rivals of Singapore at the moment.
South Korea develops the world's most giant floating solar power plant near Saemangeum,
an estuarine tidal flat on the coast of the Yellow Sea.
The 2.1GW floating solar farm is a part of the extended mega renewable energy project
of up to 3GW in the Yellow Sea off the coast of South Korea.
The project is anticipated to generate enough electricity to serve the needs of one million
homes.
The project's installed capacity is expected to be 14 times the size of the the one that
is the biggest operational floating solar farm in the world at the moment.