On the 2nd of June 2021, the first of four Ocean Sun floaters at the Statkraft Banja reservoir in Albania started commercial operations in the presence of the Albanian Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Mrs Balluku. The floater is located on Statkraft’s 72-megawatt hydropower plant and is now generating renewable energy and injecting the power into the Albanian national electricity grid.
The first unit covers nearly 4,000 square meters and has an installed capacity of 500 kWp, with almost 1600 solar panels that were successfully deployed during two effective days of installation.
“We are very pleased with installation of the new Ocean Sun flagship floater at the Statkraft Devoll Banja reservoir. This demonstrates the safe, simple and fast construction methodology. We were able to mount nearly 1600 solar panels at record breaking speed. I wish to thank the proficient teams at Statkraft and the local contractor Doko. The collaboration has been excellent, and their competence and knowledge made the installation a pleasure from start to finish. We look forward to the second stage of the project during which we will install three additional floaters” – Says Børge Bjørneklett, CEO and founder of Ocean Sun.
“This is a great milestone in an innovative floating solar project, and it is exciting to see the plant come alive and provide additional renewable energy production in Albania. We are looking forward to the concrete results of this demonstration project to assess the potential for further expansion of this exciting technology,” – Says CEO of Statkraft, Christian Rynning-Tønnesen.
The project is expected to continue its second implementation phase during the second half of 2021, whereby additional three floating units will be installed, with a combined additional capacity of 1.5 MWp.
See also Statkraft’s press release:
https://www.statkraft.com/newsroom/news-and-stories/archive/2021/floating-solar-starts-production/
About Ocean Sun:
By combining the Norwegian maritime expertise and knowledge within photovoltaics, Ocean Sun has developed an innovation that offers a bold solution to our global energy needs. The patented technology is based on solar modules mounted on hydro-elastic membranes and offers cost and performance benefits not seen in any other floating PV system today. With offices in Oslo, Singapore and Shanghai, Ocean Sun is embarking on its vision to be the world’s leading technology provider of floating solar.