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Bloomberg
Thailand plans to build the world’s largest floating solar farms to pow-er Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy and to boost the country’s share of clean energy. State-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand will float 16 solar farms with a combined capacity of more than 2.7 gigawatts in nine of its hydroelectric dam reservoirs by 2037, said Thepparat Theppitak, a deputy governor with the utility. Several of the proposed projects are more than double the size of the world’s largest floating system now and the venture dwarfs the 1.3 gigawatts of generation installed globally as of October.
The plan represents an ambitious bet for Thailand on floating solar, which tends to be more expensive than ground-mounted units that dominate sector. If EGAT builds all its proposed projects, company says flo-ating solar will account for one tenth of country’s clean energy sources, compared to just 1 percent of global solar capacity by 2050, according to BloombergNEF. “As the cost of solar equipment comes down, many developers are looking at water with grid connection,†said Jenny Chase, head of solar analysis for BloombergNEF.