Taiwan opens world’s largest offshore floating solar plant, soon to be outdone by China’s 1-GW project

This article was published by The Energy Mix on Nov. 14, 2024.

By Christopher Bonasia

The world’s largest offshore floating solar project came into operation early this month off the coast of Taiwan, but its title is already set to be usurped by a one-gigawatt facility in China that has begun connecting to the grid.

In Taiwan, Taipei-based Hexa Renewables has begun operating a 440-megawatt (also reported as 373-MWac, or megawatts alternating current) offshore floating photovoltaic plant that covers 347 hectares of ocean surface. The project builds on an earlier installation that was completed in 2020 with 181-megawatt capacity by Chenya Energy, a company that was at the time an investor in Hexa.

The newly-completed second stage of the project can supply power for 74,000 households in Taiwan, reports Interesting Engineering.

In a recent LinkedIn post, Hexa called the project the “world’s largest offshore floating solar power plant.” But that title will be short-lived, with another floating photovoltaic plant in the works in China, where China Energy Investments has started connecting a 1,223-hectare project with 2,934 photovoltaic platforms to the grid. When it’s complete, the project will provide a total installed capacity of 1 GW, writes Global Construction Review.

“Once fully operational, the project is expected to generate 1.78 billion kilowatt-hours annually, enough to meet the power needs of approximately 2.67 million urban residents in China for a year,” REVE reports.

The move to floating offshore locations for solar photovoltaic projects comes as a response to challenges of installing solar arrays on land, where there are competing uses like homebuilding, agriculture, and conservation. Some 71% of the Earth is covered in water, offering greater opportunity for space to install solar panels in oceans.

Companies are especially interested in installing projects in areas considered part of the Sun Belt—for example the Caribbean and offshore Japan, South Korea, and Oman—where there is limited wind but ample sun, Interesting Engineering says.

Floating panels can also be more efficient because the water helps keep the panels cool. But building over the ocean comes with challenges, too, caused by waves and tides that can make anchoring the panels difficult, REVE notes.

The Taiwan and China projects each claim to contribute to efforts to curtail emissions, with Hexa promising to offset 136,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year with its facility. CHN Energy—a funders’ parent company—says the project in China will save 503,800 tons of coal and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1.34 million tons per year.