China’s CHN is now connecting the 1-gigawatt (GW) floating solar power plant (SPP) to the grid in the country’s eastern province of Shandong. The new SPP includes 2,934 platforms measuring 60 x 35 meters in length and width, installed 8 km off the coastal city of Dongying, to which power will be supplied via a 66-kV submarine cable.
The project will generate 1.78 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity per year, which is comparable to the annual power demand in Luxembourg. The power plant occupies 1,223 hectares (ha) in total, which is six times the size of the Principality of Monaco.
Global Energy reported that the new SPP will make it possible to save over 500,000 tons of coal and 1.3 million tons of CO2 emissions (the equivalent of the annual carbon dioxide emissions from APG flaring in Australia) annually.
The main advantage of floating SPPs is the possibility of regular cooling: thanks to cold air currents over the water, the temperature of the panels at floating power plants is usually lower than at ground-mounted ones, which makes power generation more efficient. Proximity to water also leads to a smaller temperature difference during the day, extending the service life of solar panels.
Another advantage is the radiation balance. This refers to albedo, the ratio of reflected radiation to incident radiation at the surface. The albedo of water is close to that of solar panels (about 5%), which means that, unlike ground-mounted SPPs, floating power plants do not reduce the amount of radiation reflected from the ground. In addition, their proximity to water makes it easier to clean solar panels.
China is a leading player in the floating SPP market. S&P Global Platts estimates that four of the world’s six largest floating power plant operators are headquartered in China (CHN Energy, Sungrow Renewables, China Three Gorges Corporation and China Huaneng Group). As with ground-mounted SPPs, the competitive advantage of Chinese companies is the high availability of raw materials for solar energy.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), China’s share in the global production of metallic silicon and ferrosilicon (an alloy of iron and silicon) in 2022 stood at 79% and 69%, respectively. At the same time, China ranked second worldwide in silver mining (at 14%) and fourth in copper mining (at 9%).
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