China’s first floating solar-tidal power hybrid connects to grid

Chinese state-owned energy company CHN Energy has put into operation a hybrid power plant, consisting of 100MW of newly built floating solar panels connected to the existing 4.1MW tidal power plant in China’s Zhejiang province.

Located in Wugen Township in the city of Wenling, the floating solar array has been linked to the Jiangxia Experimental Tidal Power Station – the first tidal power station built in China and the fourth largest in the world.

The Jiangxia Experimental Tidal Power Station, first commissioned in 1980, is furnished with 6 two-way bulb tubular hydro-generator units with a total installed capacity of 4.1MW.

Equipped with floating solar panels, the plant’s annual power generation output is now expected to exceed 100 million kWh, which is enough to meet the annual electricity demand of about 30,000 households, according to CHN Energy.

According to the Chinese government, the electricity generating capacity of the power plant could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost 85,000 tonnes annually, saving over 31,000 tonnes of coal used in conventional coal power plants.

Built and operated by CHN Energy’s subsidiary Longyuan Power, the hybrid plant features 185,000 floating solar generation modules constructed on the tidal reservoir area.

To simplify the daily inspection and maintenance workload, the plant makes use of unmanned aerial vehicle inspection technologies and AI intelligent diagnosis systems, according to CHN Energy.

In addition, the hybrid power plant is supported with a 5MWh energy storage solution to ensure stable and continuous supply of power to the grid, according to Chinese media reports.

The hybrid solar-tidal power plant in Wenling marks a milestone for China and its approach to streamline the use of marine energy resources by co-locating several different energy generating technologies at one site.

According to the Chinese government, this approach is expected to significantly accelerate the country’s transition to clean energy sources.

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