Transforming Unused Bodies of Water into Clean Energy Generators

Floating-PV is a great opportunity to generate extra value from your body of water. You can benefit from long-term lease income on areas that previously only created costs, while at the same time promoting sustainability and renewable energy implementation. You can become the owner of the floating system, either by buying it or by purchasing the generated power. The electricity can be used for your own consumption, enabling you to lower and secure your energy costs for the long term and avoid possible CO2 taxes, or you can sell the electricity on to another company, or to the grid.

Operators of hydroelectric power stations benefit from dual use of the reservoir to maximise energy production. At high solar irradiation, the floating solar park delivers electricity; at low irradiation or at night, the hydro technology delivers electricity. Furthermore, a Floating-PV system will reduce evaporation from reservoirs, and the existing grid connection can be used, which lowers the cost of installation. A real win-win situation.
 

With more than 30 years of experience in the field of renewables, and 230 MWp installed of Floating-PV, we draw upon extensive know-how. We are a quality-orientated, full-service provider with a strong financial background and a tight network of suppliers and subcontractors to deliver at high quality and competitive costs. We bring the table technology know-how, development capabilities and EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) ability. Our parent company BayWa AG generates an annual turnover of 17.2 billion euros.

Since beginning of operation of our first projects in the Netherlands, we have been performing studies to monitor and evaluate the impact of our parks on the water ecosystem and on the surroundings, with support and collaboration of independent research institutes and universities. Completed studies and intermediate results show little to no impact on the water ecosystem, while in some cases even promoting bio-diversity of fish and invertebrate species, as shown in our Bomhofsplas biohuts case study. Birds also like to stop on and around our parks, and bird-counting activities have not shown so far a decrease of bird presence in proximity of our parks.

We have not seen any negative impact on water quality. Qualitative and quantitative studies are currently under way in collaboration with universities to measure and monitor water quality, with promising results. With the optimized floating structure system we use, we allow maximum water movement beneath the system. We expect less algae build-up due to moderate shadows underneath the construction – certain types of algae require substantial light to grow, so a reduction of these varieties might occur, which reduces maintenance costs for cleaning of the water body.

Other varieties thrive in the shade, but we use a specific type of glass/glass modules in our system which ensure good light transparency, so they only cast moderate shadows. We think this creates the ideal conditions for avoiding excessive growth of both kinds of algae.

The components have undergone in-house as well as third parties leaching tests, which confirmed they are also suitable for use in reservoirs intended for drinking water.

For most of our Floating-PV projects we are installing on artificial bodies of water such as decommissioned parts of sand pits, coal mining areas and water storage facilities, which are not used for recreation or tourism. It is in theory possible to allow dual use of bodies of water with productive or recreational activities, but additional measures to avoid interference between the activities and to avoid risks should be taken. 

We have 15 projects installed at the moment, of which 12 in the Netherlands, 1 in Germany, 1 in Austria and 1 in Thailand, for a total of 230 MWp. We are continually expanding and at the moment we have a secured pipeline of projects in more than 10 countries, between Europe and APAC.

Floating-PV is not a new technology, only a new application of an existing technology. Our installed Floating-PV systems fulfil all Eurocode standards and are certified by VDE (German Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies). The system is based on the construction experience of BayWa r.e. – we installed more than 2.6 GWp of PV plants globally. It can be maintained by our BayWa r.e. O&M unit. It ensures investors a smooth operation over the lifetime of the project. Due to our position monitoring, we make sure to always determine the exact location of the Floating-PV system, which further increases the safety.

BayWa r.e. was also part of the Joint Industry Project that led to the publication of the first Recommended Practice for Floating-PV, DNV-RP-0584, and keeps participating in industry-wide activities to increase the safety and reliability of Floating-PV systems.

For those investing in Floating-PV from BayWa r.e., the return, risk and administration are no different than when investing in ground-mounted projects, as all the particulars are handled by our experienced teams.

Our installed Floating-PV systems fulfil all electrical regulations relating to the installation of electrical systems. We install a perfect grounding system to protect the system from any electrical failures. Our systems are reviewed and certified by the independent company VDE and are compliant with all electrical regulations and standards. Furthermore, we focus on lakes that are not used for recreational purposes. 

There are plenty of support schemes available in Europe for the development and construction of Floating-PV projects, either in form of feed-in tariffs such as the SDE+ in the Netherlands, or renewable CfD auctions, as well as innovation tenders. The requirements and eligibility of a specific Floating-PV project may vary country by country and even region by region, and they keep changing in time, which is why an experienced partner in the development of Floating-PV such as BayWa r.e. can support in finding the right business case at the right point in time.

According to a study by the World Bank, there is a potential of 204 GWp in Europe alone, if we use 10% of the man-made inland freshwater reservoirs. (Source: Where Sun Meets Water, Floating Solar Market Report, 2019 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank, page 57, Graph.) Only around 0.15% of this potential has currently been installed, which leaves huge potential for market growth.