Sirindhorn - The world's largest floating solar farm

The world's largest floating solar farm has just come into operation in Thailand, with the size of more than a hundred football fields combined.

According to the Electricity of Thailand (EGAT), the farm is located at the Sirindhorn dam on the Lam Dom Noi river, in the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani, about 660 kilometers east of Bangkok. The power plant operates on a hybrid technology model.

Panorama of the wind farm project built on Sirindhorn Dam.

During the day, 145,000 solar panels installed at the project are responsible for generating electricity. At night, the plant continues to produce electricity with three large turbines using the water power below. With a total investment of 34 million USD, Sirindhorn solar power farm has a capacity of 45 MW.

Sirindhorn solar farm is built on an area of ​​120 hectares of the Sirindhorn hydroelectric dam, the size of 120 standard football fields, with 145,000 solar panels arranged into 7 subdivisions.

According to EGAT, experts have carefully calculated the environmental protection factor of the project. It is estimated that this solar power farm helps reduce 47,000 tons of CO2 into the environment/year. All panels and floating structures are built, installed and operated in an environmentally friendly manner. For example, the panels are installed at an appropriate angle, allowing enough space to optimize the heat source from the sun, but without affecting the surrounding water environment.

The farm occupies only about 1% of the lake's surface area, but has the effect of retaining 460,000 m3 of water from evaporation each year. Cool air from lake surface water will ensure that the panels do not overheat, increasing power generation efficiency by 15% compared to installing on land.

Notably, the designers also installed three turbines that can fan the water in the lake to generate electricity when there is no sunlight, or when the demand for electricity is high. The power management system (EMS) at the farm will operate after receiving input information from the weather forecast network, in order to ensure stable power generation.

EGAT President Boonyanit Wongrukmit said that this 'hybrid' project helps to increase energy security for Thailand, contributing to creating a clean, environmentally friendly energy source that neutralizes the phenomenon of global warming.

EGAT plans to turn this wind farm into a tourist attraction that can open its doors to visitors from the beginning of next year. Through this, the project helps to increase public interest in this environmentally friendly and green energy technology trend, creating more sustainable jobs, stable income for people and developing the economy. economy in the region.

Construction workers inspect the installation of solar panels at the project.

In the coming time, EGAT plans to deploy 15 other solar power projects. When completed, these projects will help add 2,725 MW of electricity to Thailand's national grid.

Sirindhorn Solar Power Plant joins the national grid at a time when Thailand embarks on accelerating its net zero emissions target, 15 years earlier than expected. At the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in Glasgow, England in November 2021, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha made a commitment to Thailand. Lan aims to net zero emissions by 2050, instead of 2065 as previously planned. This is considered a big step for Thailand, in the context that 66% of electricity production in this country comes from gas-fired thermal power sources.

According to Bloomberg, the total output of gas-powered electricity in Thailand is 114,000 GW, while electricity from renewable energy such as solar power, wind power, and hydrogen only accounts for about 10% of total output. The remaining power generation is from coal-fired thermal power, which is the main contributor to increasing carbon emissions.

Thailand is currently among the leading countries in ASEAN in terms of renewable energy development, gradually liberalizing the energy market, promoting the private sector's deeper participation and greater contribution to this market. .

Political authorities and economic groups in this country began to seriously consider the transition to clean energy, as the domestic supply of fossil fuels gradually dried up. Gas output, the largest source of fossil fuels in Thailand, peaked in 2014 and declined. Renewable energy, including solar power, has grown faster after this time. The Thai government hopes that by 2037, renewable energy will contribute 35% of the total national electricity production.