Although Singapore is a small country, it is one of the largest producers of carbon dioxide per capita. This small country has set itself the goal of combating the climate crisis and wants to promote renewable energy sources. In this country, rivers are not suitable for the location of hydropower plants, there are no suitable conditions for wind farms either, and since this country is about half the size of London, it unfortunately does not have enough space on the mainland to house solar panels. However, Singapore has found a solution and that is the position of floating solar panels at sea.
Construction of solar panels at sea
The newly built solar farms stretches off the coast of Singapore into the Johor Strait. Now 13,000 panels are anchored to the seabed of the Johor Strait.
Installed solar panels can produce 5 megawatts of electricity. This is an amount that is sufficient to power 1,500 households. Solar panels are made in nearby China and are anchored to the seabed with the help of chains and concrete blocks.
“The sea is a new frontier for solar to be installed,” Shawn Tan, vice president for engineering at Singaporean firm Sunseap Group, which completed the project in January, told AFP.
“We hope that this will set a precedent to have more floating projects in the sea in Singapore and neighboring countries.”
The new project will be even bigger
The project developed by Sembcorp and the national water agency Public Utilities Board will be even bigger. A solar farm will be built near the Tengeh reservoir, which will house 122,000 panels that will produce enough energy for the energy needs of the Singapore water treatment plant.
Singapore will focus on solar energy
“After exhausting the rooftops and the available land, which is very scarce, the next big potential is actually our water area,” Jen Tan, senior vice president and head of solar in Southeast Asia at conglomerate Sembcorp Industries, told AFP.
Singapore has set itself a big goal, by 2030 it would like to supply 350,000 households a year with the help of solar energy. It is important for Singapore to focus on combating the climate crisis, because this country is also very vulnerable to rising sea levels.
Source: https://interestingengineering.com/singapore-builds-floating-solar-farms-to-tackle-climate-crisis
https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/08/26/singapore-is-turning-to-floating-solar-panels-to-meet-its-green-targets
