Statkraft, Europe’s largest renewable energy generator, in cooperation with Norwegian supplier Ocean Sun has started commercial operations at the first unit of its floating solar project in Albania, further contributing to the country’s renewable energy journey.

The project is placed at the Banja reservoir in Albania, where Statkraft is operating its 72-megawatt Banja hydropower plant. After the successful completion of the first floating solar unit and connection to the grid, the plant is now generating renewable energy and injecting the power into the Albanian national electricity grid.

Floating solar power involves installing solar panels on floating structures on a body of water, such as a lake, fjord or ocean, or in a hydropower reservoir. Each unit consists of a floating ring and a thin membrane. Combined with the cooling of the panels from the water below, it is this membrane and the large area that makes this concept unique. The technology is developed by Ocean Sun and although the membrane is only a few millimeters thick, it can easily withstand the weight of the solar panels and of personnel carrying out installation or maintenance tasks.

The first unit, comprising 1536 solar panels, has an installed capacity of 0.5 MWp and covers almost 4,000 square meters. In addition, 160 equal panels have been placed on land for comparison and documentation of the cooling effect on the floating panels. 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.

"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.

"Today’s achievement marks an important milestone for Statkraft in Albania and a further step in our mission to lead the shift to renewable energy through innovative solutions. After the start of commercial operations of our Banja and Moglice hydropower plants, we are looking into further optimising these renewable assets. The Banja Floating Solar Plant is a concrete example for further integration of different resources of renewable energy," says Rigela Gegprifti, Statkraft’s Country Head in Albania.

"We are very pleased to start commercial operations of the new Ocean Sun flagship floater at Statkraft’s Banja reservoir. This demonstrates the safe, simple and fast construction methodology. We were able to install the 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 and to demonstrate the high performance of our solution," says CEO of Ocean Sun, Børge Bjørneklett.

Statkraft has been present in Albania since 2007. The country with a population of about 3 million people, has one of the highest shares of renewable energy in Southeast Europe. Hydropower accounts for the largest share of Albania’s electricity generation, representing around 95% of its installed power capacity. In addition, Albania has some of Europe’s highest number of sunshine hours per year, presenting significant potential for the development of solar power and a good fit with existing hydropower capacity.

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