First floating solar plant in Albania starts commercial operations

• 3 years ago (2021-06-04)
• David Flin

Europe 1089 Solar 273

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Statkraft , in cooperation with Norwegian supplier Ocean Sun , has started commercial operations at the first unit of its floating solar power project in Albania. The project is at the Banja reservoir in Albania, where Statkraft is operating its 72 MW Banja hydropower plant. After the successful completion of the first floating solar unit and connection to the grid, the plant is now generating power and injecting it into the Albanian national grid.

The first unit, comprising 1536 solar panels, has an installed capacity of 0.5 MW, and covers almost 4000 square metres. An additional 160 similar panels have been placed on land for compare and document the cooling effect on the floating panels. The project is scheduled to implement phase 2 during the second half of 2021, with three additional floating units with a combined capacity of 1.5 MW being added.

Christian Rynning-Tønnesen, CEO of Statkraft, said: “This is a great milestone in an innovative floating solar power project, and it is exciting to see the plant come alive and provide additional renewable energy in Albania. We are looking forward to the concrete results of this demonstration project to assess the potential for further expansion of this exciting technology.”