Global floating solar to exceed 6GW by 2031

The sector is expected to grow by 15% annually until 2031.

The floating solar market globally is expected to surpass the six-gigawatt (GW) threshold by 2031 as demand for solar rises amidst deployment challenges faced by photovoltaics (PV) developers.

Ting Yu, consultant at Wood Mackenzie, said at the SNEC PV Power Expo that the solar industry experiences barriers in deploying solar farms due to limited land availability, and growing land costs for ground-mount solar projects.

This drives the demand for floating solar projects, Yu said.

In a statement, Wood Mackenzie said floating solar is expected to grow 15% annually in the next 10 years, with 15 countries projected to exceed 500 megawatts of the total installations by 2031.

“Despite development costs of FPVs ranging between 20-50% higher than comparable ground-mount projects, increased competitiveness in the developer and EPC landscape is helping to drive down costs in the sector,” Yu added.