French floating PV specialist Ciel & Terre has completed work on a 70 MW floating solar installation for state-owned developer China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group.
The project is connected to the grid at a former coal mine in the city of Suzhou, in the northern part of Anhui province. China Energy Conservation Solar Technology oversaw construction and China Energy Engineering Group Shanxi Electric Power Design Institute provided EPC services, according to an emailed statement.
“The plant completion is a technical achievement considering its size,” Ciel & Terre said, pointing to the use of centralized inverters integrated with medium-voltage transformers held above the surface of the water on poles. “Overall, 1,500 helical anchors were used for the project and buried from eight to 15-meter depth to fit the configuration of the site.”
To facilitate grid connection, the project included the installation of a 110 V transmission line spanning roughly 18 km, across what Ciel & Terre described as “13 islets”. The 140-hectare installation is the French company’s biggest project to date. It is expected to generate about 77.8 GWh of electricity in its first year of operation.
Ciel & Terre first announced plans to work on the 70 MW floating PV project in June 2017, stating it expected to complete the project in the final quarter of that year. The developer had already supplied its proprietary Hydrelio floating platforms for another 32 MW floating PV installation in Anhui province.
The floating PV specialist – based in Sainghin-en-Mélantois, near the northern French city of Lille – claims its Hydrelio technology prevents the accumulation of algae on bodies of water and minimizes evaporation.
*This article was amended on Thursday, March 21. We initially reported that this project was the world's largest floating PV project in the world, which is not the case. We apologize for the error.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
7 comments
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.