fbpx

Floating solar farm being considered for Penang Harbour

Property News/ 21 August 2024 Leave a comment
solarfarm

Picture for illustration only

A floating solar farm – one large enough to power 6,000 homes – is being considered for Penang’s harbour.

Its primary purpose is to supply cruise ships with renewable energy, making Penang Port appealing for international cruise lines eager to use sustainably produced electricity.

The Star has learnt that this entails creating a solar farm that floats on a sheltered quarter of Penang’s harbour stretching over 4ha, the size of three World Cup football fields.

On a sunny day, it is expected to churn out 30 megawatts of electricity, which theoretically will be enough for 6,000 homes.

Tentatively, the potential site is between North Butterworth Container Terminal and Dermaga Dalam off mainland Penang.

This effort to produce electricity at sea is because come 2030, cruise ships may not call on ports without renewable energy (RE).

“The year 2030 is not a deadline but a goal proposed for the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to seriously look into RE, or cruise ships may not call on our ports unless certain measures are in place to reduce pollution,” said Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) chief executive officer Datuk Sasedharan Vasudevan.

Planning ahead, Sasedharan said preliminary feasibility studies are being conducted on using solar photovoltaic offshore floating farm system, which is a large-scale installation of solar panels.

“They float on water, such as oceans, lakes or reservoirs and the system harnesses the power of the sun to generate electricity.

“This system proposes to further increase the use of solar electricity in the PPSB terminal,” he said.

Sasedharan said the project focused on generating solar energy for consumption of the North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT) as there is no land or rooftop space at the container yard.

“Since we have proposed shore power at the Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal, the RE can be used to power the terminal and cruise ships,” he said.

The Star reported in February that RM50mil will be spent on this project.

“There are areas in Penang’s harbour calm enough for floating solar farm, but we need to ensure it is feasible.

“It makes sense to use RE for shore power rather than relying on the national power grid.

“The latest cruise lines are all pursuing RE as a major step in reducing pollution because a big cruise ship produces carbon equivalent to 20,000 cars,” added Sasedharan.

Source: TheStar.com.my

telegram-logo2Join our Telegram Channel now to receive instant update on Penang latest projects and property news

Tags:
RELATED PROPERTIES FOR SALE/RENT AT
  1. No comments yet.
  1. No trackbacks yet.
(You can also Login/Register to submit your comment using unique ID)

COMMENT GUIDELINES

  • Respectful Conduct: All comments must be respectful. Abusive, offensive, misleading or inappropriate language will be removed.
  • Relevance: Political or off-topic comments may be removed.
  • No Spam or Self-Promotion: Comments that are promotional or appear to be spam will be removed. Please refrain from sharing links or contact information in the comment.
  • Moderation: We reserve the right to review, edit, or delete any comments that violate these guidelines.
  • All advertisement in the comment will be removed. Please contact us for advertising opportunities.



To advertise your property in this page under "Related Properties for Sale/Rent":
 1. Submit your property at PenangPropertySale.com, it's FREE!
 (Please do not advertise your property in the comment)