The 60MW floating PV project on the surface of Singapore’s Tengeh Reservoir completed grid connection at 3:00pm on June 16. The event was announced by China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC) that provided the EPC services for the project. The Tengeh project is currently the largest floating PV project in Singapore to date. It serves as a successful demonstration of the commercial feasibility of floating PV projects and the application of solar PV for the sustainable development of sources of drinking water.
According to the information provided by CEEC, the Tengeh project spans across 390,000 square meters and deploys 122,556 pieces of PV modules. It is the world’s largest floating PV project on freshwater reservoir. Singapore’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) awarded the BOT contract for the project to energy developer Sembcorp in February 2020. Sembcorp stated that the Tengeh project will power PUB’s water treatment facilities, thus making Singapore one of the few countries that use renewable energy to power its entire waterworks system. A special multimedia report by the Straight Times pointed out that the components and materials for the floating PV systems deployed on the reservoir were carefully selected to reduce the effect on water quality.
The Tengeh project is going to meet about 7% of PUB’s energy consumption and offset 28,000 tons of annual CO2 emissions, according to an article from Asian Power. It will also make a significant contribution to Singapore’s efforts in raising its domestic PV generation to 1.5GWp by 2025. On the same day that the Tengeh project was connected to the grid, the Straight Times reported that the Singaporean government and energy giant Shell have signed an MOU for the development of a new floating project on Semakau Island. Its size is purportedly twice that of the Tengeh project.