According to the WeChat official account "Sinopec", on July 1, Sinopec Qingdao Refining and Chemical's floating photovoltaic project in a full-seawater environment was completed and put into use. This is the first industrial operating seawater floating photovoltaic project in China, which, together with the previously launched pile-based floating photovoltaic project, has become the largest floating photovoltaic power station of Sinopec.
The overall project can generate 16.7 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 14,000 tons, equivalent to planting 750,000 trees. It reduces investment by about 10% compared to traditional pile-based photovoltaic systems, and has important demonstration effects for the promotion of floating photovoltaic projects in coastal and shallow sea areas under full-seawater environments.
The floating photovoltaic power station is located in waters connected to the sea, utilizing the surface space of seawater to absorb solar energy. The project is located within the hydrogen energy "production-research-addition" demonstration park of Qingdao Refining and Chemical, featuring advantages such as zero emissions, high efficiency, and low cost. It covers an area of approximately 60,000 square meters and has a capacity of 7.5 megawatts.
The project innovatively adopts a floating photovoltaic structure, with the design of photovoltaic panels that rise and fall synchronously with the tides, shortening the distance between the panel and the water surface to about 1/10 of that of traditional pile-based structures, maximizing the use of seawater cooling, thereby improving the power generation efficiency by 5%-8% through the cooling effect.
In a full-seawater environment, the photovoltaic system faces challenges such as seawater corrosion, biofouling, and tidal fluctuations. To solve these application difficulties, the R&D team collaborated with leading domestic material development and buoyancy production enterprises to conduct technological breakthroughs, resulting in three major innovations: developing specially designed buoys and brackets resistant to salt fog corrosion and barnacle adhesion; developing an underwater anchoring system capable of withstanding 13-level winds and adapting to a 3.5-meter tidal difference, reducing investment by about 10% compared to traditional pile-based photovoltaic systems; and placing photovoltaic panels and cables close to the water surface inspection channels, significantly improving safety and reducing costs during maintenance compared to traditional pile-based photovoltaic systems.
These technological innovations will provide standardized solutions for photovoltaic development in coastal and shallow sea areas, promoting the reduction of costs for new energy projects.
The complete construction and operation of the floating photovoltaic project have connected the most critical link in the new energy industry chain of Qingdao Refining and Chemical, forming a new energy industrial pattern of "photovoltaic generating green electricity, green electricity generating green hydrogen," which helps the high-quality integration of hydrogen energy and photovoltaics, laying the resource foundation for green hydrogen refining and green hydrogen transportation industries.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7522485356072911360/
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