France has finished construction of the largest floating solar power plant in Europe. The power plant, made up of 47,000 Solar panels, is set to reduce 1,096 tons of carbon emissions and takes France a step further in embracing renewable energy.
The power plant is set to provide 100% full capacity of power for the local community of Piolenc with a population of nearly 10,000 people.
The project was started in 2014 by Akuo Energy in partnership with Ciel-et-Terre. The O’MEGA1 project now produces 17 MW of electricity to its local community. The lake itself, Lake Vaucluse; an artificial lake, is a rehabilitated 50 hectares land that was originally a quarry.
Since 2007, when the first floating photovoltaic (FPV) was set up in Japan, more countries are setting up floating solar power plants. The panels are set on rafts and anchored to the water bed floor. They are then connected and wired to a transmission line connecting to the grid. FPV technology is rapidly growing in trend. More countries around the world have installed floating power plants including Japan, China, India and the Netherlands.
Despite the high costs of setting up a floating solar power plant, it has benefits that help cut costs in the long run, including efficient use of restricted land and underutilized surfaces. Setting the solar panels on water also reduces water costs incurred for arranging groups on land, i.e. cooling and cleaning of solar panels.
By the end of 2017, around 250 MW of floating solar power was installed with a potential of the same to reach10GW by 2030(world bank).
Source: World Bank & Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore
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