China completes new 70 MW floating solar PV project on old coal mining area

• 5 years ago (2019-03-21)
• David Flin

Asia 859 Solar 249

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French-based Ciel & Terre International has announced that its 70 MW floating solar power plant located on top of an old coal mining area in the province of Anhui, China, is now officially complete after months of tests and monitoring. Construction was completed at the end of 2018 on the floating solar power plant. The 70 MW plant is believed to be the largest floating solar power plant in the world.

The project was constructed by China Energy Conservation Solar Technology, and EPC was carried out by China Energy Engineering Group Shanxi Electric Power Design Institute. Built on top of a former coal-mining area in the Yongqiao district of Suzhou city, the new project will primarily be used to improve the energy structure in the province and the quality of the environment.

Ciel & Terre has been developing floating solar PV projects since 2011, and has developed over 120 floating solar PV farms around the world, including in Cambodia, Taiwan, and South Africa. It said that the idea of floating solar projects continues to gain traction as the economics of solar power generation becomes more attractive and available land becomes harder to come by. Utilising bodies of water for generation solves several issues. The company also said that by focusing efforts on installing floating solar systems on brown fields or remediation ponds in an effort to transform polluted land and water into clean energy generating sites.