L R AS Published on Monday 11 May 2020 - n° 321 - Categories:Asia
A 2.1 GW floating power plant project in South Korea
South Korea plans to build a 2.1 GW floating plant on swamps near the city of Saemangeum. If completed, this project would be roughly equivalent to the existing floating solar capacity.
worldwide (2.4 GW at the end of 2019). The budget for this project is US$3.7 billion.
A first phase of 1.2 GW should be online by 2022, and the rest by 2025. The technical challenges are numerous. At the forefront is the anchoring of the photovoltaic systems in the soft seabed of the peninsula. Another challenge is salt water corrosion. Added to this are the tides and wind. Finally, the profitability of the operation has been called into question because of the fall in the price of electricity following the pandemic.
The project will benefit from the accident in Yamakura (Japan) which was caused by the breaking of the anchor. There is a critical relationship between the water level and the tension of the moorings.
In the offshore environment, factors such as the degradation of the panels, the performance and reliability of the system, as well as the investment and capital expenditure figures will be crucial to understand.
PV Magazine of 9 May
