Singapore Tender For 56.7 MW Floating PV Studies

• Singapore's PUB has issued a tender to carry out engineering and environmental studies for two floating PV projects
• One of the study projects is a 50 MW system for the Tengeh Reservoir where solar panels are expected to cover about one-third of the water surface area
• Second study project is the Upper Peirce Reservoir, where 6.7 MW of PV modules will cover 2% of the water surface area
• Study will assess the impact of these plants on flora and fauna and water quality of the reservoirs
• Environmentally sensitive designs and construction processes will also be part of the feasibility study

Singapore's National Water Agency (PUB) has launched a tender for engineering and environmental studies for 56.7 MW of floating PV systems. The tender call is for a 50 MW floating solar PV system in the Tengeh Reservoir and a 6.7 MW system in the Upper Peirce Reservoir. For Tengeh, solar panels are expected to occupy about one-third of the water surface area, while for Upper Peirce, it will be 2% of the area.

Based on the study results, the agency will take a decision on deploying floating solar PV systems at further reservoirs.

Previously, a floating solar PV system test-bed was launched at Tengeh Reservoir in October 2016. Its results were promising as the system performed better than a typical rooftop solar PV system in the country thanks to the cooling provided by the reservoir. It also hasn't affected the water quality negatively and no significant impact has been noticed on wildlife. Now, PUB wants to explore the feasibility of deploying a 50 MW PV plant here.

Clean energy generated by the 6.7 MW floating solar power project at Upper Peirce Reservoir could directly be used to power nearby Chestnut Avenue Waterworks for its water treatment operations.

The new studies will ascertain the impact of the PV plants on all flora and fauna and the water quality of the reservoirs. They will include an Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) that will recommend corresponding mitigation or avoidance measures and appropriate monitoring framework.

The job will also include developing environmentally sensitive designs and construction processes. Further tender details are available on the website of PUB.

"PUB will continue to study the feasibility of adopting clean energy in our installations, which will help us reduce our dependence on grid energy and carbon footprint, " said PUB Chief Sustainability Officer Tan Nguan Sen. Adding, "As the lack of deployable land space imposes a limit on what Singapore can reap from this clean energy, the natural option is our vast water surface,  but we want to study the possible impact and relevant mitigating measures very carefully before reaching a decision to proceed with large-scale floating solar PV deployment."