The National Water Agency of Singapore has partnered with Sembcorp Industries to begin construction of what would become one of the largest floating solar farms in the world , installed in one of the reservoirs that border the city-state. .
As we have learned, the Tengeh reservoir has been chosen by the authorities to house this huge 60 MWp floating park, which, according to the calculations made, would have the equivalent size of 45 football fields, thanks to its 122,000 installed solar panels. .
Complete supply of water treatment plants
We must bear in mind that, despite its important position as a financial center, Singapore faces a certainly difficult task when it comes to the implementation of renewable energies, since it does not have rivers fast enough to use. of hydroelectric power, and the wind in the region is not strong enough.
This measure is related to the decision of the aforementioned agency to feed its water treatment plants with solar energy , thus building a gigantic solar farm about 30 kilometers from the city.
The place was chosen in order to allow the agency to supply its factory without having to deal with the difficulties of installing said infrastructure inside an urban environment, to which the reduced space originally existing inside would be added. of the city-state, which forced to make the decision to install it in the water.
The validation of the project was carried out on the basis of tests already carried out under similar conditions. And the project itself showed minimal impact not only on the water quality itself, but also on biodiversity .
Thus, this technology will allow Singapore to become one of the first countries in the world to integrate such water treatment. When construction is complete next year, the complex would be able to produce enough green energy to power all of the water treatment plants in this city-state .
And, according to specialists, more generally, this amount of energy produced would cover 7 percent of the energy costs of the National Water Agency of Singapore.
The solar park will be optimized for both the climate and its use
Delving into the project, we have learned that all the photovoltaic panels deployed will produce 60 Megawatts peak (MWp). At the same time, a complete specialized monitoring system will be put into operation to control the correct operation of the facilities, in addition to optimizing their performance in the face of different meteorological conditions .
The manufacture of these solar panels takes into particular account the conditions they will face, with heat and humidity being two of the most common (and important) conditions.
For this reason, in order to resist inclement weather, the photovoltaic modules will be built with a double layer of glass , which is clearly different from the single layer of glass that is currently installed in static installations. In this way, the aim is to better fight against the humidity so characteristic of the area.
In turn, a layer of high-density polyethylene , resistant to ultraviolet rays, will be applied, which will improve its reliability despite continuous exposure to the sun.
One of Singapore’s main goals is to reduce its carbon footprint . And, according to the calculations made, these farms would be able to reduce polluting emissions from their stations by 32 kilotons . This is equivalent to taking 7,000 cars off the road during each of the 25 years of expected operation in its current form.
Indeed, Singapore has committed to halving its maximum greenhouse gas emissions , in turn achieving net zero emissions as soon as feasible in the second half of the century.
