PUB to deploy 50MWP floating solar PV system by 2021

The 50MWp Tengeh floating solar PV system is expected to offset 7% of PUB’s current energy needs.

National water agency PUB intends to deploy a 50MWp floating solar photovoltaic (PV) system on Tengeh Reservoir by 2021, an announcement revealed. When installed, it will be Singapore’s first single large-scale floating solar PV system.

PUB will launch a Request for Proposal (RfP) on 7 June to invite private sector companies to design, build, own and operate the floating solar PV system on Tengeh Reservoir for 25 years.

The 50MWp Tengeh floating solar PV system will generate green energy to power water treatment and is expected to offset 7% of PUB’s current energy needs. The floating Tengeh system will also eliminate the need to emit 28,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year that it is in operation, which is equivalent to removing 6,000 cars off Singapore’s roads.

The agency also revealed that it is in the process of implementing two other smaller 1.5MWp floating solar PV systems on Bedok and Lower Seletar reservoirs. The construction tender for these two projects has closed and will be awarded sometime in Q3 2019. The systems will reportedly be in place by early 2020.

“PUB is actively implementing the deployment of solar PV systems on the roofs of our water infrastructure, and also on our reservoirs, in order to generate renewable energy and reduce our carbon footprint,” the agency highlighted. It has already installed rooftop systems at Choa Chu Kang Waterworks, Bedok Waterworks, PUB WaterHub, Tuas Desalination Plant, and the Changi Water Reclamation Plant.

When the floating systems on Bedok, Lower Seletar and Tengeh reservoirs are completed, 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 four-room HDB flats for a whole year. Solar panels on the roof of Tuas Water Reclamation Plant, when it is finished in 2025, will add another 5MWp to this,” PUB highlighted.