German coal mines could host 3 GW of floating PV

• Research institute the Fraunhofer ISE has actually approximated the technical capacity of floating PV at mining sites in Germany at around 56 GW. With drifting tasks 10-15% more expensive than land-based alternatives, scientists have actually called for additional rewards, such as the staging of 'development tenders'.

A study carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Power Systems (ISE) for renewable resource designer Baywa re, has calculated lignite open-cast ponds in Germany might host 56 GW of drifting PV task generation capacity.

“& ldquo; After subtracting the approximated areas relevant for leisure activities, tourism, nature and landscape preservation, there stays an economic potential of 2.74 GW,” & rdquo; the researchers added

. The scientists discovered almost 500 open-pit lakes with a total location of more than 47,000 ha in Germany, the majority of them in the eastern states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony. Some 4.9% of those water surface areas would appropriate for floating photovoltaic projects, according to the research study institute, with the best potential reportedly depending on the Lausitz lignite mining area.

The researchers mentioned open-cast lignite mines comprise just under 13% of the 4,474 synthetic bodies of water in Germany.

Incentives

To develop drifting PV technology and decrease investment costs, Fraunhofer ISE said additional incentives for the innovation, comparable to those given by the Dutch government, would be necessary.

At present, all German PV projects with a generation capacity of more than 750 kW compete in public tenders, a system which pointers the chances against floating facilities, which can be 10-15% more expensive than ground-mounted options. “& ldquo; It would, therefore, make sense to have ‘& lsquo; development tenders & rsquo; specifically for floating PV and other innovative photovoltaic power plants that still require a market increase,” & rdquo; the Fraunhofer report stated.

Harry Wirth, head of photovoltaic modules and power plants at Fraunhofer ISE, said: “& ldquo; In order to prevent lengthy modifications to the land usage plan, the land-neutral floating PV technology must be fortunate, as is already the case today for using land for wind and nuclear power.” & rdquo; Wirth included, open-cast mines need to be acknowledged as conversion locations under the German renewable resource law.

Water service

It has actually been estimated Germany will require a ninefold boost in its set up PV generation capacity, to around 500 GW, to complete its transition to a zero-carbon energy system.

“& ldquo; Floating PV power plants are a fairly new idea for using photovoltaics however for which there is a terrific prospective for electrical energy generation worldwide, not least due to the fact that they enable a [land] neutral growth,” & rdquo; said Fraunhofer ISE director Andreas Bett. The location usage coefficient for drifting photovoltaics is very high, at around 1.33 MW of generation capacity per hectare installed.

The cooling impact of the water likewise ensures the yield of drifting PV systems might be higher than with equivalent ground-mounted facilities.