Scotra, a local South Korean floating PV company, successfully finished a 41 MW floating solar installation for Korea Water Resources. The facility is located on a reservoir of the Hapcheon Dam in Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The installation is the country’s largest floating PV plant to date. It was built with the Q.Peak Duo Poseidon modules for floating projects provided by South Korea-based manufacturer Hanwha Q-Cells and floating structures supplied by Scotra.
Scotra has already constructed a 25 MW floating solar plant on a reservoir in Goheung county, South Korea’s Jeollanam province, as well as a 500 kW prototype floating array at the Hapcheon dam. The company is also working on a 72 MW project near the Yellow Sea’s Saemangeum sea wall, for which it has established a new 300 MW facility to create floaters and frames.
By 2030, the South Korean Ministry of Environment plans to install 2.1 GW of floating PV capacity. South Korea’s aim to become carbon-neutral by 2050 includes the new 2.1 GW scheme. The country is also developing an ambitious 2.1 GW floating solar complex, being built by the South Korean government at the Saemangeum tidal flats on the Yellow Sea’s coast.
REGlobal’s Views: Floating solar projects are gaining traction in many Asian countries that suffer from land constraints or land acquisition related challenges. Many large floating solar projects are being built on reservoirs of hydropower projects as they provide synergies in terms of optimum utilisation of transmission infrastructure and ensure faster project implementation.