South Korea’s biggest floating PV project sails to construction launch

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Construction works should deliver a 25MW project covering 10% of the lake's 33-hectare surface by 2020, according to Scotra (Image credit: Scotra)

Work is now underway to deliver what is being billed as South Korea’s largest floating solar plant to date, an installation combining steel structures with polyethylene floats.

Earlier this week, Scotra kickstarted construction of a 25MW PV plant on the Namjeong lake in South Korea’s Jeonnam Province, along the country’s southern coast.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The plant – delivered via a deal with South Korean renewable player TOPINFRA – will feature blue polyethylene floats, moored to the lake’s bottom via underwater cabling.

PV modules will be then rolled out atop POSCO's alloy steel structures, which Scotra claims are cheaper than aluminium yet highly resistant to corrosion.

The Namjeong-ho installation is meant to cover 10% of the lake’s 33-hectare surface once fully built, with completion expected next year.

Once up and running, the plant will generate enough solar output to cover the needs of 12,000 households and bring annual CO2 emission savings of 14,000 tonnes, Scotra said.

According to the developer, the 25MW project could once built become the world’s fourth-largest floating PV plant, surpassed only by three sites in China’s Anhui Province.

It could, Scotra added, be the top project of its kind in South Korea itself, overtaking the country’s current record-holder – a 18.7MW up-and-running plant in Gunsan – also deployed by the firm.

Tailwinds spur the global floating solar race

The South Korean news comes to breathe yet more life into an already budding global floating PV ecosystem, currently growing from the 1.1GW market size recorded last year by the World Bank.

Countries marking project milestones so far in 2019 include India (100MW), Singapore (50MW), Thailand (45MW), Malawi (20MW) Portugal (4MW), the Seychelles (3.5-4MW) and Dubai.

As reported by PV Tech at Intersolar 2019, the frontrunners' designs remain highly diverse, including solar boats, waterlily-like membranes, reservoir covers and co-location with hydro.

South Korea – which is fostering floating PV through extra bonuses for renewable certificates – holds alone an installation potential of 5.304GW, Scotra believes.

The country appears ready to seize the window more decisively, with the government announcing this year a 2.1GW floating scheme by the southwestern coastal dam of Saemangeum.

Founded in the early 2000s, Scotra completed a 500kW floating PV system in the Hapcheon Dam in 2012, following this with similarly sized moves across other South Korean water bodies.

The firm has taken its floating PV business model elsewhere in Asia, wrapping up various plants in Japan and bagging supply deals of around 9MW for Taiwanese schemes.

The developer is also carrying out R&D for 2.5MW of off-shore installations under a scheme run by South Korea’s state, set to cover 2020 through to 2022.

Read Next

May 20, 2025
Octopus Australia has received grid connection approval from AEMO for a 300MW solar-plus-storage site in New South Wales.
May 20, 2025
Australia’s Victoria government has proposed seven REZ for the state, emphasising these will help achieve its target of 2.7GW of utility-scale solar PV generation by 2040.
May 19, 2025
Swedish solar developer OX2 has received development consent from the New South Wales government in Australia for a 90MW solar-plus-storage project.
May 19, 2025
New data released by Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator (CER) has noted that 553MW of capacity was approved in the NEM in April.
May 18, 2025
Developer Elgin Energy has secured grid connection approval from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) for a 150MW solar-plus-storage site in Victoria.
May 16, 2025
Google will purchase renewable energy certificates from a 600MW solar and energy storage portfolio in the US state of South Carolina.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
May 21, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 8, 2025
Asia