The largest floating solar station in the world will complete construction by the end of this year. Chenya Energy announced today (17th) that the financing for the projects of “East Lunwei 181MWp Floating Solar Power Station of Changhua Coast” and “Syuejia 75MWp Ground Solar Power Station of Tainan” have been achieved, and both power stations have set the highest capacity of solar in Taiwan. The two power stations are expected to be unveiled during the fourth quarter of 2020.
As pointed out by Chenya Energy, the consortium has provided a financing credit of more than NTD$10 billion, and local banks have participated in roughly NTD$6 billion, which represents a participation ratio of more than 55% that resulted in the largest credit in solar project financing from local banks in the history of Taiwan. The financing for the projects of East Lunwei Power Station of Changhua Coast and the Syuejia Power Station of Tainan have been respectively hosted by KGI Commercial Bank, Bank SinoPac, and DBS Bank, and consist of 6 participants, including SMBC, SocGen, Shin Kong Bank, CTBC Bank, E.Sun Bank, and First Commercial Bank, with a participating quota exceeding the anticipation.
Among which, the East Lunwei 181MW project site of Changhua Coast is the largest floating solar power station in Taiwan and the world, and is divided into 8 major construction, with completed items including the electromechanical equipment & cable platform, anchor engineering, 22.8kv power equipment and engineering, and warehouse logistics management, and the remaining items include the assembly of buoy modules, wiring of DC cables, self-built substation, and high-voltage cable conduit are currently in the midst of construction. The power station is expected to consist of 570K units of solar panels, and is scheduled to complete in the fourth quarter of 2020, with a power generation of 250 million kWh for the first year, and an annual reduction of 130 million kg of carbon dioxide.
The Syuejia ground solar site of Tainan has a capacity of 75MW, and is divided into 4 areas, with construction initiated in the third quarter of 2020. The power station will achieve a power generation of 70.2 million kWh in the first year, and an annual reduction of 38.89 million kg of carbon dioxide.
The floating solar set up at the Agongdian Reservoir of Kaohsiung is a renowned site of Chenya Energy that consists of a 2.32MW capacity. The company current possesses over 400MWp in existing and developing ground, rooftop, and floating solar power generation system. Yoshihiro Megata, Chairman of Chenya Energy, explained that the current focus remains on floating solar projects, though the company does not rule out the possibility in ground sites should there be suitable land and opportunities, and will continue to follow up on new technological application in bifacial solar and lightweight solar panels.
Floating and ground solar sites need to be guarded against typhoons and heavy storms. A fire incident had occurred from a floating solar site installed at a damn in Japan before, for which Yoshihiro Megata has also commented that the largest wind speed will be used to implement the design for a site that is resistant to wind and typhoon, before undergoing professional certification. Megata commented that he had followed closely on the cause of the particular fire incident from the floating solar site in Japan.
Yoshihiro Megata pointed out that floating solar is an innovate solution that overcomes numerous restrictions imposed by natural conditions, and effectively utilizes solar energy. Regarding the new regulations by the Council of Agriculture, Megata also expressed that the company wishes to seek for future investment opportunities that conform to the Taiwanese law.
Chenya Energy is a Taiwanese subsidiary wholly owned by Japan-based Marubeni Corporation, and the latter has invested more than JPY¥10 billion (approx. NTD$2.7 billion) in purchasing Hsinchu-based Chenya Energy that focuses on floating solar projects and all of the company’s shares in 270MW green energy equipment.
(Cover photo source: captured by TechNews)