Victoria to host Australia’s largest floating solar plant at water facility

Victoria’s Labor government says the state will soon be host to Australia’s largest floating solar array, after unveiling plans to install a 500kW array on Brierly Basin in Warrnambool.

The $1.4 million floating solar plant was announced on Thursday as part of an Andrews government’s agreement with the state’s water corporations to reach net zero emissions by 2035.

The project will install more than 1,200 bi-facial solar panels on pontoons floated on Brierly Basin. Minister for water Harriet Shing says it will cut the costs and emissions it takes to pump water to the Warnambool Treatment Plant.

Why floating solar?

Floating solar, when used at water storage and treatment facilities offers the added benefit of reducing evaporation rates. It also works well for countries that are short on land suitable for large-scale solar farms.

Projects that use bi-facial panels, as the Brierly Basin array is slated to do, have also been shown to generate significantly higher yields of energy, due to the reflection of light from the water’s surface.

The technology is not new in Australia, but so far has been installed in relatively small amounts, particularly in comparison to some global projects, which are typically being rolled out in the tens of megawatts.

One of the world’s largest inland floating solar PV systems, the 60MW array on the Tengeh Reservoir in Singapore, was completed in 2021. This looks set to be well and truly trumped by another Singapore project, a 2,200MW floating solar farm proposed for a reservoir on Indonesia’s Batam Island.

Australian floating solar

Australia’s first example is a 157kW array installed in 2015 in Jamestown, South Australia, where it is supplying power to a waste water facility owned by Northern Areas Council.

In NSW, a community-funded 100kW floating solar array has been installed at the East Lismore Sewage Treatment Plant in NSW.

The Victorian government says it is investing in more floating solar projects across the Victoria, with a $209,149 investment to install an array on a dam at Lardner Park in Gippsland.

“As we continue to slash our emissions at the rate of almost double our target, the water sector is leading the way towards a cleaner future,” said minister Shing.

“Renewable energy is key to meeting Victoria’s ambitious 2030 target of reducing our emissions by 50 per cent, and it’s important essential services like water can harness this reliable and affordable new energy technology,” said state energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio.