Massive solar panel system to be built on Tengeh Reservoir by 2021
SINGAPORE — Singapore’s first single large-scale floating solar panel system - about the size of 45 football pitches - will be installed on Tengeh Reservoir by 2021, said the Public Utilities Board on Thursday (6 June).
Set to be among the largest of its kind in the world, the 50 megawatt-peak (MWp) floating solar photovoltaic (PV) system will generate energy to power water treatment and is expected to offset seven per cent of the PUB’s current energy needs.
It will also eliminate the need to emit 28,000 tons of carbon dioxide every operating year, or the equivalent of removing 6,000 cars off Singapore’s roads, said the national water agency in a press release.
At the opening ceremony of this year’s Ecosperity Conference on Thursday, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli also announced that the PUB will launch a Request for Proposal (RFP) to invite private sector companies to design, build, own and operate the floating solar PV system for 25 years.
Separately, two other smaller 1.5MWp floating systems will be implemented on Bedok and Lower Seletar reservoirs by next year.
Construction tenders for these projects have closed and will be awarded in the third quarter of this year, said the PUB.
Currently, rooftop solar systems have been installed at Choa Chu Kang Waterworks, Bedok Waterworks, PUB WaterHub, Tuas Desalination Plant, and the Changi Water Reclamation Plant.
With the completion of the floating systems on the three reservoirs, the PUB will have a total solar capacity of some 57MWp.
“This is significant and will give us enough solar energy to power the equivalent of 15,500 4-room HDB flats for a whole year,” said the agency.
Upon the completion of a rooftop solar system on Tuas Water Reclamation Plant in 2025, the PUB will have an additional solar capacity of 5MWp, it added.
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