Singapore’s Floating Solar Experiment Faces Unexpected Challenge from Barnacle Growth

Singapore’s ambitious offshore floating solar project in the Strait of Johor has revealed a new challenge for marine renewable energy development: marine organisms attaching themselves to floating solar infrastructure and affecting system performance.

With limited land availability, Singapore has increasingly explored floating solar solutions to expand renewable energy capacity. However, while engineers initially focused on overcoming waves, currents and extreme weather conditions, unexpected biological growth beneath the water surface became a major operational challenge.

Floating Solar Helps Singapore Overcome Land Constraints

Singapore is home to nearly six million people, but its limited land area creates significant challenges for large-scale renewable energy deployment.

Although rooftop solar installations have expanded across the country, urban solar generation alone cannot fully support the targets outlined in the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

To overcome these limitations, developers turned toward marine environments.

Renewable energy company EDP APAC and its subsidiary Sunseap Group developed the Woodlands Sea-Based Floating Photovoltaic (OFPV) System in the Strait of Johor, demonstrating the potential of offshore floating solar technology.

Unlike freshwater floating solar installations, marine projects must withstand additional challenges, including:

• Saltwater corrosion

• Strong waves and currents

• Tidal movement

• High wind conditions

• Marine biological growth

During the early development stage, engineers focused primarily on structural stability, designing a marine-grade anchoring and tension system to maintain platform alignment and withstand harsh ocean conditions.

5MW Floating Solar System Built with 13,000 Panels

The Woodlands offshore floating solar project consists of:

• 13,312 solar panels

• More than 30,000 floating pontoons

• 40 central inverters

• One transformer

Covering approximately 12 acres of the Strait of Johor, the 5MW floating photovoltaic system is among the world’s largest marine floating solar installations.

The project generates around 6 million kWh of clean electricity annually, helping reduce more than 4,000 metric tons of carbon emissions each year, according to the Singapore Economic Development Board.

Marine floating solar also offers several advantages compared with traditional land-based systems.

The cooling effect of seawater can improve solar panel performance during peak daytime temperatures, while floating systems can help reduce freshwater evaporation in coastal areas.

Barnacles Create Unexpected Operational Risks

While initial structural tests showed that the floating platform could withstand waves and wind conditions, engineers later encountered an unexpected issue: marine biofouling.

In Singapore’s warm tropical waters, algae, sea squirts and barnacles began attaching themselves to submerged pontoons and mooring structures.

The accumulated biological growth significantly increased the weight of the floating system, adding approximately 43% additional mass to the platform.

The increased weight reduced buoyancy, causing pontoons to sit lower in the water. As the platform shifted downward, steel hinges designed to absorb wave movements became less flexible.

The lower floating profile also increased exposure of electrical connectors to seawater spray, creating additional risks related to corrosion and long-term reliability.

Engineers Develop Solutions to Combat Biofouling

To maintain system performance, operators introduced several measures, including:

• Manual cleaning and scraping operations

• Chemical anti-fouling treatments

• Improved pontoon designs

• Elevated floating structures

• Submerged load monitoring sensors

These improvements aim to reduce maintenance requirements and monitor biological weight accumulation in real time.

Lessons for Future Offshore Solar Development

Singapore’s floating solar experience demonstrates that offshore renewable energy projects face challenges beyond engineering structures and weather resistance.

While designing systems capable of surviving waves and storms remains essential, managing marine ecosystems and biological growth will become increasingly important as offshore solar expands globally.

For coastal countries with limited land resources, solving biofouling challenges could provide valuable technical insights for future floating solar deployment.

Singapore’s Woodlands project highlights a broader lesson for the renewable energy industry: the future of solar power may extend beyond land, but successful offshore deployment will require solutions that address both environmental and engineering challenges.