[Tainan, Taiwan – 20th February 2024] Ciel & Terre Taiwan, a leading provider of floating solar PV (“FPV”) solutions, and HEXA Renewables, a prominent pan-Asia renewable energy platform, proudly announce the successful conclusion of one of Taiwan’s largest and most technically challenging near-shore floating solar projects. Situated within the Changbin Industrial Park in Changhua County, this groundbreaking project represents a significant milestone in the renewable energy landscape of Taiwan.
One of the largest floating solar project near-shore installed in Taiwan
Currently, the entire completed FPV project in the Changbin industrial zone is about 440MWp, with Ciel & Terre Taiwan here representing 280MWp of FPV.
Changbin #3 and #4, representing 192.3 MWp, are extensions of the former Changbin floating solar project built in Taiwan in 2020 in the same area. This project generates approximately 260GWh per annum, reduces 138,000 tons of CO2 every year and is equivalent to energy consumption of 65,000 average households annually.
The Changbin #3 and #4 projects started construction in October 2022 and achieved first COD in October 2023 with several large arrays spreading over 171 hectares of water surface on this near-protected intertidal area. The area is considered one of the most challenging for FPV due to the twice a day tidal changes in sea water environment with occasional typhoons, all of which have been taken into account in the FPV project design.
Floating solar platform manufactured by Ciel & Terre Taiwan, in Taiwan
For this large-scale floating solar project, Ciel &Terre Taiwan has partnered with a group of trustworthy and professional Taiwanese suppliers for the design of the FPV plant and anchoring system, the floats manufacturing and supply and construction support for EPC works regarding for the Hydrelio floating platform assembly.
“There are 3 engineers on site providing assembly training and inspection to make sure all the Hydrelio parts and anchoring connection are mounted correctly. As we are the designer and manufacturer of our own floating solar solutions, we have also 2 Quality engineers taking responsibility for product quality and delivery, to make sure all the products are met with the highest quality standards prior to delivery. On a normal day, there were 12 to 15-wheeler wing vans to deliver the FPV system, capable of achieving around 20 MW installed capacity in a month.”.
A unique floating solar design and anchoring solution provided by Ciel & Terre Taiwan
Overcoming technical challenges of near-shore floating solar environment.
The design of the platform and the anchoring of such a floating solar array is one of the biggest challenges, not only because of the project size but mainly due to the near-shore environment. Indeed, for this project, there were a lot of tough parameters to consider at the design stage to ensure robustness of the system under all kind of conditions: sea water, waves, tidal changes and occasional typhoons.
Ciel & Terre Taiwan, in collaboration with HEXA Renewables, have taken those parameters with a customized floating solar solution including an upgraded spreader bar and fixation parts, and a reinforced connection pin to strengthen the material to resist to wave conditions.
Pioneering Technology: The New Pillar Anchoring Solution.
Changbin #3 and #4 are quite unique also because Ciel & Terre Taiwan team, in collaboration with HEXA Renewables, successfully developed a patented technology called the New Pillar Anchoring Solution. This project is the first large-scale one to use concrete pillars and H-beam system for anchoring design. To ensure the reliability of its brand-new anchoring solution, Ciel & Terre Taiwan has worked with experts from various fields such as Marine Engineering companies, plastic mold companies, structural engineers, and Hydraulic engineering experts to finalize the parts and whole structure.
This New Pillar anchoring solution created by Ciel & Terre Taiwan is believed to be the most reliable solution in that type of environment to limit the movement of FPV which reduces the extrusion risk during water variation and to keep the FPV plant at its location at all time and all conditions.
The successful completion of the Changbin #3 and #4 projects exemplifies the collaborative efforts of Ciel & Terre Taiwan and HEXA Renewables in advancing renewable energy initiatives in Taiwan. Through innovative technology, strategic partnerships, and comprehensive construction support, this near-shore floating solar project sets a new standard for sustainable energy production, paving the way for further developments in the renewable energy sector.
