Floating solar photovoltaic plants are arriving as an option for renewable electricity development across Southeast Asia, with analysts at Rystad Energy predicting their prevalence will grow 100-fold over the next five to 15 years as the region moves quickly to increase the share of carbon-free power in its energy mix.
The systems will be “typically installed on dams and reservoirs,” Rystad said in a release, in a new trend that “will open new market opportunities for both new and existing players in the industry.”
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In a post republished by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, EnergyWorld says Thailand and Vietnam are considering “large-scale” floating solar installations, while smaller projects have been proposed for Indonesia, Singapore, and Myanmar.
“Floating PV offers an attractive alternative for large and mega-scale, ground-mounted utility solar development, allowing beneficiaries to take advantage of under-utilized dams and reservoirs,” says Rystad renewables analyst Minh Khoi Le, adding that total floating PV capacity will grow from 40 megawatts to three gigawatts over the next decade.
