From land to sea: offshore photovoltaics have obvious advantages Offshore photovoltaics are photovoltaic power stations built on the ocean. Compared with ground-based photovoltaics, offshore photovoltaics occupy less land but generate 5%-10% more power. This is because the water surface is open and unobstructed, the sunshine hours are long and the light reflected from the water surface is reflected. In addition, offshore photovoltaics can be easily integrated with other industries such as wind power, aquaculture, and hydrogen production to generate more economic value.   Our country has 18,000 kilometers of mainland coastline, but most of the coastal provinces are industrially developed and are in short supply of electricity and land resources. They can only rely on external power purchases and other methods to solve the power shortage problem for a long time. During peak power consumption, power shortages are inevitable. The development of offshore photovoltaic power stations can achieve nearby consumption and alleviate the power shortage problem in the eastern coastal provinces.   Actual demand and potential possibilities make both the central government and the eastern coastal provinces very optimistic about offshore photovoltaics.   Cui Lin, deputy director of the Ocean Energy Development Center of the National Ocean Technology Center, once said that the sea area where my country has installed offshore photovoltaics is about 710,000 square kilometers. Based on an estimate of 1/1000, more than 70GW of offshore photovoltaics can be installed.   Sun Yunlin told reporters that the application scenarios of offshore photovoltaics include coastal beaches, offshore areas, mid-sea areas and offshore areas. The construction of photovoltaic projects in different sea areas faces different difficulties.   To enter offshore photovoltaic, we must first confirm the rights to use the sea for the project. Public information shows that by May 2022, my country has confirmed a total of 28 offshore photovoltaic sea-use projects, with a cumulative confirmed area of ​​1,658.33 hectares, involving five provinces: Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Liaoning, and Guangdong.   In 2022, Shandong and Zhejiang provinces have successively issued regulations for sea use of photovoltaic projects, making detailed provisions on many photovoltaic sea use issues such as sea use site selection, sea use methods and sea use scope, sea area use demonstration, planning and layout, etc. Liaoning, Hainan, and Tianjin have also introduced relevant policies for the ocean photovoltaic industry.   Among them, Shandong is the most active in encouraging the development and construction of offshore photovoltaics. In 2022, it will continuously issue documents to promote offshore wind and solar development.   In June 2022, Qingdao City, Shandong Province issued the "Notice on Several Policies and Measures to Stimulate Market Vitality and Stabilize Economic Growth" and its interpretation, clearly proposing to attract more social capital to support the development and construction of offshore photovoltaic and offshore wind power in a market-oriented manner.   In July 2022, the "Shandong Province Offshore Photovoltaic Construction Project Action Plan" released by the Shandong Provincial Energy Bureau mentioned that two major 10-million-kilowatt offshore photovoltaic bases will be built "around the Bohai Sea" and "along the Yellow Sea". Among them, the "Bohai Rim" 10-million-kilowatt offshore photovoltaic base has 31 offshore photovoltaic sites with a total installed capacity of 19.3 million kilowatts. "Along the Yellow Sea" 10-million-kilowatt offshore photovoltaic base has laid out 26 offshore photovoltaic sites with a total installed capacity of 22.7 million kilowatts.   As of July 2022, Shandong has launched the development of 11.25 million kilowatt projects at a total of 10 sites in Binzhou, Weifang, Dongying, Yantai, Weihai, Qingdao and other sea areas.   The reporter noticed that following the policy, many companies have entered this blue ocean.   In the competitive configuration list of 10 offshore photovoltaic projects announced by Shandong Province in October 2022, the selected companies include central state-owned enterprises such as China National Energy Group, China General Nuclear Power Group, China Power Construction Group, and Shandong Energy Group, as well as Longi Green Energy ( Private photovoltaic giants such as SH:601012), Trina Solar (SH:688599), and Chint New Energy (SH:601877).   Sun Yunlin told reporters that there are currently two main categories of companies deploying offshore photovoltaic projects: one is photovoltaic equipment manufacturers, and the other is manufacturers of floating bodies and anchoring systems. Inverter companies, engineering companies, etc. have also made technical reserves in the offshore photovoltaic field.     Everbright Securities has calculated the relevant market space. "Under optimistic assumptions, the market space for floating bodies and anchoring systems of marine photovoltaic power stations in Shandong Province alone will be 27.2 billion yuan and 1.9 billion yuan respectively."

Verification Demonstration: Floating power stations are mainstream   The ground photovoltaic bracket market has developed very maturely. So, how to install photovoltaic modules on the sea?   my country's coastal terrain is complex, the climate is different, and the sea surface environment has its own particularities. In order to adapt to the complex environment of the sea, there are currently two methods of offshore photovoltaic construction: pile-based fixed photovoltaic power stations and floating photovoltaic power stations.   Pile-based fixed photovoltaic power stations are suitable for tidal flat sites with water depths less than 5 meters, geological stability, and small water level changes. They are currently the mainstream of offshore photovoltaic construction. The aforementioned 11.25 million kilowatt projects at 10 sites in Shandong fall into this category.   Floating photovoltaic power stations use floating materials and anchoring systems to float photovoltaic modules, inverters and other power generation equipment on the sea to generate electricity. They are suitable for waters with water depths greater than 5 meters and that are not greatly affected by typhoons.   Although the development of floating technology is relatively late, it is recognized by the industry as a technological direction with greater development potential. The reason is that its application scenarios are wider and environmental problems are smaller.   From a global perspective, floating photovoltaic power plants are also a trend. According to media reports, more than 60 countries around the world are currently actively promoting the construction of offshore floating photovoltaic power stations, of which more than 35 countries have 350 floating photovoltaic power stations. According to a study published by the research organization Global Industry Analysts, the installed floating photovoltaic capacity deployed globally in 2021 will be 1.6GW and is expected to grow to 4.8GW by 2026.   At present, China's offshore floating photovoltaic power plants are still in the demonstration stage.   On October 31, 2022, the 20-MW deep-sea floating photovoltaic 500-kilowatt demonstration project of the Shandong Peninsula South No. 3 offshore wind farm successfully completed power generation and became the first deep-sea wind and solar floating photovoltaic demonstration project on the same site. State Power Investment Corporation is The project leader.     This project chose the "deep sea" scenario with the greatest challenge. The project is built on the sea 30 kilometers offshore and with a water depth of 30 meters. Workers installed 770 photovoltaic modules on a ring-shaped floating unit with a diameter of 53 meters and an area equivalent to four standard basketball courts. After the clean electric energy was collected in the inverter, it was sent to the Peninsula South No. 3 wind turbine platform operating on the same site. It is then sent to the power grid through an offshore booster station.

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