Thailand is building one of the world’s largest floating hydro-solar farms in Ubon Ratchathani, a province in northeastern Thailand on the border with Laos and Cambodia. Located at Sirindhorn Dam, the project will have over 144,000 units of solar panels installed, and an Energy Management System (EMS) will be used at the hydro-solar farms to switch between solar and hydropower, depending on which has more strength to generate electricity.
According to project head Chanin Saleechan: “The project area is divided into seven platforms of floating solar cell panels. We’ve already installed five-and-a-half platforms. There are still one-and-a-half platforms to work on, which we expect to complete by the end of April. And we think we will be ready to distribute electricity with this by the end of June 2021.”
Covering 300 acres (121 hectares) of water, this hydro-solar project is expected to generate 45 MW of power. The state-run Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand (EGAT) aims to develop similar projects at eight more dams over the next 16 years.
In recent years, Thailand has been moving away from coal-fired projects and focusing more on renewable sources. According to its latest Power Development Plan, the country has set the goal that renewable energy will make up 35% of its overall capacity by 2037.
(Sources: ET Energy World; Reuters)
