Utah has developed its first floating solar project in collaboration with the Mountain Regional Water Special Service District, featuring a 587.5 KW system installed on a holding pond at the Signal Hill facility. The project, backed by a $400,000 grant from Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky Award program, will generate 871,086 kWh of clean energy annually.
The project is expected to lower carbon emissions by 609 metric tonnes annually. The project was developed by Ameresco in partnership with D3Energy. Construction was completed ahead of schedule on September 10, 2024, with commissioning finalised by September 20. The system will begin full operations once utility approval is granted by October 23, 2024.
The floating solar project will provide electricity directly to the water treatment plant. This will help offset 92 per cent of the water treatment plant’s grid energy consumption and reduce energy costs by 80 per cent. The floating solar project was awarded to the Mountain Regional Water Service District under Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky program as one of a dozen community-based renewable energy projects awarded in 2023.
REGlobal’s Views: Like Asia and Europe, floating solar projects are slowly gaining traction across the US owing to land-acquisition challenges. On the other hand, US has a large number of inland water bodies, and a study by NREL found that floating solar projects over the country’s 25,000 man-made reservoirs could generate 10 per cent of its annual national electricity. Further, encouraging provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act and the POWER Our Reservoirs Act (bill) are helping boost growth in this space.
