APAC to lead floating solar demand

China will have the highest installed capacity globally by 2031 at 13.8GW.

The Asia Pacific region is expected to lead the demand for floating solar as it had three gigawatts (GW) of such projects in 2022, accounting for over 90% of the demand during the period.

In a statement, Wood Mackenzie said Indonesia, India and China comprised almost 70% of the total demand for floating solar in 2022.

By 2031, China is expected to have the highest installed floating solar capacity, reaching around 13.8GW.

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“China will continue to lead in floating solar installations. The country has been able to utilise flooded coal mines that have been decommissioned to develop floating solar,” Ting Yu, consultant at Wood Mackenzie, said at the SNEC PV Power Expo.

Meanwhile, Europe is the second largest region for solar demand with almost 150MW. The Netherlands has the biggest capacity, comprising 31% of the region’s PV market in 2022, on the back of the Sellingen floating solar park which has a 41.4-megawatt capacity.

“Although it is still a small market in Europe, the trend is positive, and bigger floating PV plants are expected in the near future. After 2025, slow growth is projected as the main spots would have already been developed at this point. In addition, grid constraints and higher LCOE for bigger plants means the technology is not competitive against rooftop PV,” Yu said.