World’s First New Build Large Scale Hybrid Hydro-Floating Solar Power Plant

• The Norwegian government has decided to support, with NOK79 million (US$9.1 million), a research project led by Norway-based renewable energy developer Scatec and aimed at developing a large scale, hybrid hydro and floating solar power plant at an undisclosed location in West Africa.

The Norwegian consortium includes floating PV specialist Ocean Sun, independent research organization Sintef, software provider Prediktor, the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), and Norwegian solar industry body the Solenergiklyngen. 

“A Scatec power plant will be planned, for hybrid hydropower and floating solar right from the beginning, as a first in the world,” Ocean Sun CEO Børge Bjørneklett told pv magazine. “Normally, floating solar power is an add-on to existing hydropower plants but this project will be developed specifically as a greenfield combo plant with overall low LCOE. PV and hydropower are complementary on a seasonal basis and hydropower can convert intermittent PV into higher-value steady power.”

The project includes the development of a platform for planning, scaling, and optimizing the operation of hybrid power plants. According to Bjørneklett, the optimization of the two power-generating elements gives benefits for water remediation technology and the dimensioning of the reservoir and the basin, as well as for defining early production levels from the solar plant during the construction phase. The project will also explore adaptations of the Ocean Sun system for amphibious use during the gradual filling of the reservoir.”

According to him, reduced water evaporation and PV cooling effects will be of key importance in the project. “Together with Prediktor and internet-of-things experts, the consortium will develop novel control mechanisms for the optimization and fine-tuning of the hybrid power [plant’s] production,” the CEO stated.