The Floating Solar Power Plant
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- 4 min to read
About the city. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Secretary stated that the goal for the city is to produce its own power from renewable energy sources. The statement from the city authorities set the goal to produce 55% of the power the city will consume in 2023.
Goal
The aim of the project is to use the currently unused space on top of water sources to generate renewable energy to meet the city’s growing electricity demand by installing floating solar panels.
Implementation period. The project was launched in 2016.
Fact
- Turkey has the highest rate of growing energy demand among OECD countries over the last 15 years.
- The current project produces 240 kWh, which prevents the emission of 210 tons of CO2 per year. When the project is expanded to full capacity, it will be able to produce 10 MWp, and from 2019 will reduce CO2 emissions by 7800 tons per year.
Solutions
Istanbul has launched a project to expand the city’s own renewable energy sources by placing floating solar panels on the water surface at the Buyukcekmece dam, which will generate electricity for the national grid using unused areas of the city’s water basins and ponds.
The total installation area of the power plant is approximately 2900 m2. 30 kW of power plant is installed on land for comparison purposes, and the remaining 210 kW are installed on the lake. This area is notable for being the first application area in Turkey. The system, created as a research project, plays an important role in preventing water loss by evaporation, as it covers 60% of the water surface in terms of its area. The plant has 960 polycrystalline photovoltaic panels with a capacity of 260 kW. The floating solar power plant uses two different float systems, one of which is a pontoon (120 kW) and the other is a combination of a pontoon-construction (90 kW).
Team
Istanbul Enerji, a subsidiary of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, and Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (Ä°SKÄ°).
Timeline
The power plant at Buyukcekmece dam is just one of three currently planned, with an expansion to the Terkos and Omerli dams to be installed by 2022. The potential of solar energy from these 3 dams is only 1.25% of the total potential of the city, and after 2022 there is scope for further projects.
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