Land is scarce however water is considerable for the Caribbean’s 700 islands. Photo voltaic economic system professor Christian Breyer tells pv journal that the area’s archipelagic make-up isn’t a disadvantage however a profit for renewable vitality era, with the ocean providing the potential to serve the world’s offshore floating photo voltaic PV spine.
Christian Breyer, a photo voltaic economic system professor at Finland-based LUT College, instructed pv journal that if the Caribbean and its 13 international locations seized on the appropriate alternatives, the area may change into a “world heart” for offshore floating photo voltaic PV vitality era.
“Land-based PV programs can be developed first. Nonetheless, the substantial electrical energy demand could result in limitations in land availability, which may be overcome by offshore floating PV,” he mentioned.
Breyer not too long ago co-authored a paper exploring the potential of photo voltaic PV within the Caribbean’s chain of islands. The paper investigates numerous renewable vitality era strategies with a particular concentrate on the efficacy and levelized value of electrical energy (LCOE) of offshore floating PV arrays in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico, a North American territory that consumes virtually 70 instances extra vitality than it produces, goals to energy its hurricane-impacted electrical energy grid with solely renewable vitality by 2050.
In line with the analysis, nevertheless, each the broader Caribbean area and the island of Puerto Rico are lagging in renewable vitality capacities. Puerto Rico recorded 841 MW put in complete renewable vitality capability in 2022, with 639 MW comprising photo voltaic PV, in accordance with the latest information revealed by the Worldwide Renewable Vitality Company (IRENA).
The paper posits that because the Caribbean has restricted out there land, offshore floating PV needs to be thought-about. After inspecting a number of renewable vitality era eventualities, the paper states: “The outcomes for Puerto Rico clearly point out the big advantages of reaching 100% renewable vitality, because the levelized value of electrical energy (LCOE) may be lowered from greater than €10o ($106.2)/MWh in 2020 to €47.4 MW/h in 2050.
“The dominating supply of vitality for electrical energy provide and the complete vitality system is discovered to be photo voltaic PV with 80% and 91% of provide share in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, respectively,” the researchers mentioned within the paper. “When restricted offshore land availability is utilized, a considerable share of all PV era may be supplied by offshore floating PV for minimal further prices.”
When requested how possible floating photo voltaic PV really is within the area, he mentioned onshore floating PV is “commonplace” whereas offshore floating PV photo voltaic arrays have been developed in “numerous areas all over the world”.
The Worldwide Photo voltaic Vitality Society forecasted that areas that don’t file waves bigger than 6 m or winds stronger than 15 m/s may generate as much as a million TWh per 12 months by means of offshore floating PV arrays.
Onshore and offshore photo voltaic PV floating tasks, nevertheless, include their very own technological challenges.
“The particular circumstances within the Caribbean with hurricane danger require particular consideration of areas with higher pure storm safety,” Breyer mentioned. “I’d assume that by some means stronger constructions needs to be used, whereas the extra protected areas can be an important facet. Onshore PV programs need to be additionally hurricane proof, thus, that could be comparable for offshore floating PV programs.”
Within the final decade, there have been 20 recorded hurricanes and tropical storms making landfall in Puerto Rico. When Hurricane Maria battered the island in 2017, it took the electrical energy grid virtually 11 months to get better – making it the longest blackout in North American historical past.
The paper, titled “Function of Photo voltaic Photovoltaics for Sustainable Vitality System in Puerto Rico within the Context of the Total Caribbean That includes the Worth of Offshore Floating Programs,” was revealed in the IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics.
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