EDF to establish 240MWp floating solar project coupled with hydro plant in Laos

• EDF has actually protected an agreement to lead the development of a 240MWp floating solar project in Laos that will certainly be co-located with a 1.08 GW hydropower plant.

According to the firm that runs the hydro center, the Nam Theun 2 Power Company (NTPC), the setup will be the globe's biggest hybrid floating solar project when it is full.

Ready to be deployed on the reservoir of the Nam Theun 2 hydropower project in Khammouane province, the project will cover 3.2 square kilometres, less than 1% of the reservoir's surface at complete supply level.

EDF signed an agreement with the government of Laos to create the plant, which will be co-developed by state-owned Lao Holding State Enterprise as well as Thailand's Electricity Generating Public Company.

Following an EPC bidding procedure that is expected to happen in very early 2022, construction will certainly start later that year, with conclusion anticipated by 2024.

NTPC highlighted the hybrid installation's capacity to conserve water: when the sun is beaming, hydro generation will certainly drop as well as much less water will be made use of. As much as 73% of the solar generation could be made use of simply to save water, Matthieu Bommier, who helps the investors of NTPC, told PV Tech.

According to Jean-Philippe Buisson, vice-president Asia at EDF, the solar project will have no major environmental or social effect, with the water saver idea, which transforms solar into added as well as stable hydroelectricity, enabling the generation of eco-friendly electricity in a more trustworthy way.