Half a year after ground breaking in July, a giant floating PV power station situated in Anhui Province, the largest such facility worldwide to date, has been in partial operation, following grid-connection power generation of some modules, and is scheduled for full-scale launch next May, according to China Three Gorges New Energy Co., Ltd., the builder and a subsidiary of China Three Gorges Group.
The project, though, is expected to lose its title of global champion later on, as Indonesia is in the process of building an even larger PV power station.
At a projected cost of 1 billion yuan (US$151 million), the facility boasts 150 MW of total installation capacity, almost quadruple 40 MW capacity of the existing largest floating PV power station in China.
China Three Gorges New Energy noted that following its full-scale grid-connection power generation next May, the facility will generate 150 million kilowatts/hour of power annually, saving 53,000 tons of coal consumption a year, cutting 199,500 tons of CO2 emission annually, and reducing forest logging by 54,000 square meters, capable of meeting power consumption of 94,000 households.
Waterborne floating PV power station doesn't need land space, boasts higher power-generation efficiency, thanks to the cooling effect of water on solar panels, and can cut water evaporation and curb propagation of algae.
The facility is installed in a water area which used to be a coal pit and China Three Gorges New Energy will have pay the municipal government 25 million yuan of tax a year , plus over 2 million yuan of rental.
The facility will the world's largest floating PV power station, until completion of a similar project with 200 MW installed capacity, to be built in Cirata reservoir in Indonesia by PT Pembangkitan Jawa-Bali, a subsidiary of Indonesia's state power firm, and Masdar Co., Ltd. of United Arab Emirates, which have signed the contract for the joint venture.
(Collaborative media: TechNews, first photo courtesy of China Three Gorges New Energy)