Photovoltaics: China builds world's largest offshore solar power plant
A solar power plant with an output of 200 MW is being built in the Yellow Sea. Larger projects are also being tackled in Europe.
Illustration of a solar power plant at sea.
(Image: Rijkswaterstaat)
Construction of the world's largest offshore solar power plant began in China last weekend. The project is now being realized in the Yellow Sea off the city of Lianyungang in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, reports the Chinese news agency Xinhua. When it is completed next year, it is expected to have an output of 200 MW.
The solar power plant at sea will be built from 3.3 million PV modules in 480 arrays and combined with an energy storage system on land with a capacity of 400 MWh, reports the China Internet Information Center. The photovoltaic plant will be combined with the Tianwan nuclear power plant, which is located near the construction project. Together they are expected to generate 10 GW of power and serve as an example of an "environmentally friendly power supply". The solar power plant would save 1.77 million CO₂ emissions per year.
China is already the leader in the ranking of floating solar power plants. At the beginning of 2022, a solar power plant with a capacity of 320 MW went into operation on a reservoir in Dezhou in the Chinese province of Shandong, a good 300 km south of Beijing. Nearby, an onshore wind farm generates 100 MW of power, plus an 8 MWh energy storage facility.
European project
In Europe, Oceans of Energy is building an offshore solar park within the Shell/Eneco Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind farm, which is due to be completed next year. It will be the first solar park designed for high waves. The wind farm has an output of 759 MW and the solar panels are to have 0.5 MW. According to the operator, the "North Sea 1" solar power plant, which was installed off the Dutch coast as a test in 2019, has survived several storms without damage.
Together with 15 partners – including the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP – Oceans of Energy is working on offshore solar technology with an output of 150 MW. This would enable systems in the GW range, Fraunhofer IMWS explains. By the end of this decade, the project partners want to raise the funds to be able to build a solar park with an output of up to 200 MW in an offshore wind farm.
Solar power plants at sea reduce the space required for renewable energy on land. When these power plants are combined with wind farms, they can make more efficient use of an existing grid connection to the land, Oceans of Energy says.
(anw)
