Thailand: Take Thai Electric Power Authority (EGAT) as an example, it announced in March 2019 that 16
floating solar systems will be built in China by 2037, with a total power generation capacity of 2.7GW. The unit capacity ranges from 24MW to 325MW. That means a large number of
floating pv mounting systems will be used. In June of the same year, the electricity authority of Thailand also issued a bid for a
58.5MW floating power station, which will be financed by the company's own fund of 51 million euros. According to world bank data, the capital expenditure of this project is 0.48 US dollars/W. In November 2019, Bangkok based BCPG signed a private power purchase agreement (PPA) with a Thailand's biofuel company to build a 200 KW floating power station.
Vietnam: In order to reduce the risk of
floating solar energy investment, Asian Development Bank, in cooperation with Canadian Climate Fund, provided a US $37 million preferential loan last autumn for a
47.5MW floating power station in southern Vietnam. The project is planned to be built on a man-made reservoir, where there is already a 175MW hydropower plant. In April this year, Vietnamese government held two solar photovoltaic auctions. One auction is to build 50-100 MW floating power stations by 2020, and the other is to complete 300 MW floating power stations by 2021. In the same period, Vietnamese government announced the latest subsidy policy for photovoltaic electricity price. According to the decision No. 13 / 2020 / QD TTg issued by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Chun Fuk on April 6, the government will also provide a grid price of US $0.0769/kwh for the floating solar energy projects for a period of 20 years.
Singapore: On May 11, Singapore state water agency Utility Bureau and Shengke Singapore Floating Solar Energy Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shengke Industry, announced the signing of a 25-year power purchase agreement to build a
60MW floating solar power generation system in tenge reservoir. The project will be made of double glass components and food grade high-quality high density polyethylene (HDPE) pontoon. Singapore is one of
the largest floating solar photovoltaic systems in the world, and the project will be fully operational in 2021.
In fact, in addition to Asian market, European markets such as UK, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil and Australia have also made great efforts to develop
floating solar systems. Some countries that have initially developed photovoltaic power stations on water surface have also made new progress. Belgium, close to Netherlands, launched its first floating solar pilot project in May: on a lake in Antwerp dessel. The 2 million euro project, announced in October 2018 and built by Belgian developer Floating PV NV, can meet about 80% of the electricity demand of nearby mining plants.
Also in September, Chile launched its first grid connected
floating solar power station. Juan Carlos choubert, Chile's energy minister, attended the inauguration ceremony of the plant. Solarity, a Chilean local developer, has built a nearly 1500 square meter reservoir on a dam in mataqueto, and built the
floating solar power station on the reservoir. It uses 456 photovoltaic modules, which can meet the demand of 116 households. It is understood that the project has been connected to the national grid under Chile's net metering scheme.
According to a recent report of World Bank, the potential of
floating photovoltaic installation in South America is at least 36GW. Brazil, Chile, Argentina and other countries will become the main force.
With the accumulation of the global practice of floating power stations’s experience and knowledge, the popularization of standards, standardization of certification, inspection and acceptance and the verification of quality assurance and environmental sustainability, it is believed that
floating solar energy will have enough potential to become the third pillar of global photovoltaic market.