Sembcorp, PUB unmoors floating solar PV farm

The PV farm has a 60 MWp capacity.

Sembcorp Floating Solar Singapore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp), and the National Water Agency PUB have officially opened the Sembcorp Tengeh Floating Solar Farm at the Tengeh Reservoir. 

With 122,000 solar panels spanning across 45 hectares (equivalent to about 45 football fields), the 60 megawatt-peak (MWp) solar photovoltaic (PV) farm is considered as one of the world’s largest inland floating solar PV systems. 

According to a joint press release from Sembcorp and PUB, the electricity generated from the solar farm will be sufficient to power Singapore’s five local water treatment plants, offsetting about 7% of PUB’s annual energy needs and reducing PUB’s carbon footprint. 

This is equivalent to powering about 16,000 four-room Housing and Development Board flats and reducing carbon emissions by about 32 kilotonnes annually, the same as taking 7,000 cars off the roads. 

“With this floating solar power plant, which we believe to be one of the largest in the world, PUB takes a big step towards enduring energy sustainability in water treatment. Solar energy is plentiful, clean and green, and is key to reducing PUB’s and also Singapore’s carbon footprint,” said Ng Joo Hee, Chief Executive of PUB.

The construction of the floating solar PV farm started just August last year, with Sembcorp in charge of designing, building, and operating the farm. The project was completed on time with full safety management measures in place, despite manpower and supply chain constraints due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.