Solar energy is becoming more popular worldwide, with more countries following the UN-backed Race to Zero, which is “a global initiative to unite leadership and guidance from corporations, cities, regions, and investors for a sustainable, adaptable, zero-carbon recovery.” The battle against climate change is a collective, global initiative. Singapore, a small and resource-constrained city-state, is no exception, and the island now has one of the world’s biggest offshore floating Photovoltaic (PV) farmlands, a 5 MW-peak project dispatched in the Johor Straits.
The five-hectare sea-based solar farm, created by Sunseap Group, a Singapore-based solar energy solutions company, is the size of five football pitches. It is expected to produce up to 6,022,500 kWh of energy per year, enough to generate electricity 1250 four-room public housing flats on the island and compensate an estimated 4258 tonnes of carbon dioxide, thanks to 13,312 solar panels, 40 inverters, and much more than 30,000 floats.
The Singapore Green Plan 2030 was unveiled by the Singapore government in 2021. This countrywide initiative aimed to promote Singapore’s national agenda on environmental sustainability, which was announced in 2020 to halving peak greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The goal is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, but this will only be possible if the country substantially decreases its dependence on fossil fuels. Therefore, considering different ways of producing electricity is critical, as natural gas accounts for 97% of Singapore’s electricity generation.
Singapore is limited in its access to natural and renewable energy sources such as wind and hydroelectric power due to its size. Singapore, however, benefits from a high annual average solar irradiance due to its proximity to the equator. Simply put, it receives a great deal of sunlight. As a result, one of the main goals of the Green Plan 2030 is to quadruple solar energy deployment to 1.5 GW by 2025, with plans to increase to 2 GW by 2030. Singapore will need to use cutting-edge technology to achieve such lofty goals and realize the true potential of green solar PV.
Huawei inverters have already helped generate gigawatts of electricity along with all utility solar power systems, displaying the corporation’s capacity to navigate at any scale and in any environment. The inverters have also been put through a series of salt corrosion and heat dissipation tests, displaying their ability to withstand extreme conditions and temps ranging from -55°C to 80°C. Sunseap was able to simplify the floating platform’s Operational and Management (O&M) process and help stop rust and general material weathering by using Huawei inverters.
Sunseap’s Vice President of Engineering, Shawn Tan, stated that the portability of Huawei’s string inverters was an essential feature because it allowed them to configure the inverters right next to the PV panels on the floating platform. This decreased costs and implementation times by eliminating the need for a Direct Current (DC) cable hose and DC combiner boxes. Heat is removed more effectively thanks to the inverters’ distinctive design, increasing the overall dependability of the solar PV system.
Sunseap’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Frank Phuan, asserted that the Singapore government’s Green Plan is a firm commitment to combating climate change and the offshore floating 5 MW-peak plant that they have here is only a tiny step toward carbon neutrality. They hope Sunseap and Huawei will keep contributing to Singapore’s clean energy landscape in the years ahead.
About Sunseap Group Pte Ltd
Singapore’s largest clean energy provider is Sunseap. Sunseap was founded in 2011 to diversify the energy portfolio through cost-effective models and strategies. Sunseap provides a one-stop shop for clean energy solutions, including funding, advancement, design, engineering, and construction. Sunseap’s unique situation as a licensed Electricity Wholesaler and Retailer under the Energy Market Authority (EMA) has allowed it to develop two business models: solar leasing and clean electricity supply.
For more information, visit https://www.sunseap.com/SG
