S’pore Now Has One of World’s Largest Floating Solar Farms; Could Offset More Than 4,000 Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide A Year

Singapore is many things: established, crazy rich and immaculately stressful are just several of numerous notions to describe our island home.

But it seems that the little red dot is not quite contented yet, as it has added yet another accomplishment to the list:

Home to one of the world’s biggest solar farms.

As a Wise Old Man would probably put it: “There goes that overachieving kid in class again.”

S’pore Now Has One of World’s Largest Floating Solar Farms; Could Offset More Than 4,000 Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide A Year

According to The Straits Times, Singapore has set up a floating solar farm in the Strait of Johor, off Woodlands.

Apparently, the farm is capable of offsetting more than 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

That’s around 900 passenger vehicles’ worth of gas emission per year.

Granted, it’s slightly less than the amount my Aunt Matilda breathes out in an hour, but it’s still pretty significant.

At the same time, the 5MW-peak system installation is said to create a rough 6 million kilowatt-hours of energy per year.

According to the news report, the farm, which was established by Sustainable energy provider Sunseap Group, took around a year to complete.

Features

The farm comes with 13,312 panels, 40 inverters and more than 30,000 floats, and takes up the rough size equivalent of seven football fields.

It is also said to be installed with electrical panels, control systems and a 22-kilovolt transformer.

Apart from being a landing point (for the subsea cable), it was also designed to endure different weather conditions.

Apparently, the subsea cable handles the transmission of energy, transferring new power to the national grid.

Prospective tourists will be stoked to know that the solar farm has an air-conditioned second deck.

The additional level will reportedly serve as both a visitor centre and viewing gallery.

Recognition

Mr Frank Phuan, co-founder and chief executive officer of Sunseap Group, has since hailed the professionalism of his team to fill in during these tumultuous times.

“I am so thankful to many members of our team who rolled up their sleeves to fill in the gap during this period. Their professionalism and esprit de corps were key to the successful completion of the project in the face of the numerous challenges,” Mr Phuan said.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, affiliated foreign workers were not allowed to leave their dormitories.

In addition, the team also faced other challenges, such as sea obstacles and the need for marine expertise.

Revolutionary

Despite the difficulties, the successful completion of the solar farm is expected to pave the way for future designs.

It would also create demand on a global basis.

“This is a near-shore installation, but this experience of building such seawater solar farms at scale would be invaluable in venturing into installations that are in remote ocean areas that would not have competing use cases for shipping or recreation,” Nanyang Technological University’s Energy Research Institute executive director Subodh Mhaisalkar said.

“For Singapore to meet our ambitions for renewables deployment, and for the global efforts to reach carbon neutrality in the upcoming decades, such solutions that extend the opportunity to increase our solar output would have great international demand.”

Green Plan 2030

Meanwhile, Singapore’s aim to ensure sustainable development seems set to continue with the Green Plan 2030.

Armed with five key pillars, the plan seeks to make the country more green and sustainable.

Five different ministries will be involved in the works.

The government’s objective is to reduce energy consumption in existing HDB towns by 15% by 2030.

By 2030, the total solar capacity on HDB rooftops will be doubled, and HDB towns will utilise smart LED lighting that uses 60% less energy than normal LED lighting.

Another target of the plan is to have at least 20% of schools be carbon neutral “for a start”.

This means that any emissions they create must be offset by emissions they reduce elsewhere.

The rest of the schools will soon follow, as the country will work towards a two-thirds reduction of net carbon emissions from the school sector by 2030.

You can read more on the Green Plan 2030 here.

Featured Image: Pixelci / Shutterstock.com