Construction on world’s largest floating photovoltaic solar power plant completed in Japan

The construction on a 2.3-megawatt floating solar power plant has been completed on Sunday in Hyogo prefecture, western Japan, which is the world’s largest floating solar power plant in terms of output.

The plant, coinvested by electronics giant Kyocera Corporation and Century Tokyo Leasing Corporation, is expected to generate 2, 680 megawatt hours (MWh) every year.

According to Kyocera, floating solar plants are superior to their land-based equivalents because of the cooling effects of the water, which allow the plants to have better power generating efficiency.

“As solar power is booming in Japan, land available for large solar plants is hard to come by, and solar power generation on water surfaces attracts more and more attention,” said Ichiro Ikeda, general manager of Kyocera’s solar energy marketing division.

“Besides higher efficiency, photovoltaic panels floating on the water could produce shades and reduce water evaporation and restrain algae growth, which is good for reservoirs,” he added.

The Japanese government has been vigorously promoting development of renewable power generation such as solar power since the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear disaster caused a power shortage around the country.