Singapore is looking to build one of the world’s largest floating solar panels systems at Tengah Reservoir, according to Minister for Environment and Water Resources (MEW), Masagos Zulkifli.
He was speaking at the Temasek Holdings’ Ecosperity Conference 2019, yesterday (6 June).
The sixth edition of the conference brings together world leaders, corporate leaders and scientific minds in a bid to discuss businesses that are environmentally sustainable.
Floating Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Systems
In a bid to reduce its carbon footprint, The Public Utilities Board (PUB) will seek proposals from companies to “design, build, own and run the nation’s first large-scale floating system of solar panels that will power water treatment processes” according to The Straits Times.
The Request for Proposal will be launched today (7 June).
The 50-megawatt peak (MWp) floating solar photovoltaic (PV) system will be one of the world’s largest upon completion and may take up one-third of the reservoir’s total water surface area.
It will be able to power up to 12,500 four-room Housing and Development Board homes according to Today.
This comes after PUB called for a “tender for engineering studies to be carried out at Bedok and Lower Seletar reservoirs to facilitate the deployment of floating solar photovoltaic systems there” last Friday (31 May).
At A Climatic Tipping Point
Global warming and other extreme climatic changes have nudged the planet closer to a tipping point.
Mr Masagos said: “It is clear that the status quo in the way we consume our resources and grow our economy is not sustainable. The impact of climate change respects no geographical or national boundaries”.
He pointed out that uncharacteristically warm weather last month in Hokkaido, Japan, was but a few scenarios which demonstrated the gravity of climate worsening.
On top of that, Mr Masagos added that a third of the world’s arable land has been lost due to ecological changes, and there would likely be more pressure on natural resources such as food and water as extreme weather intensifies.
There is No Planet B
In his opening remarks, Chairman of Temasek Holdings Lim Boon Heng said: “We cannot ignore the serious impact of climate change on our planet. We should all know by now that we are at a tipping point. The decisions we make today will matter.”
Citing the 1.5 deg C report released by the United Nations last year, he warned that the world had only 12 years to reduce its carbon emissions to a moderate and sustainable level.
Failing to do so would result in global temperature reaching an irreversible and catastrophic tipping point.
In cautionary tone, Mr Lim stressed: “There is no Plan B because there is no Planet B.“
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