Global Utility-scale PV Plant Database (052)

Publication date: 5/30/2022
Completed as of 01.06.2022
Country: Global, Region:  Global

 

https://globalenergymonitor.org/es/projects/global-solar-power-tracker/tracker-map/

 

The past decade witnessed the drastic decline in the cost of manufacturing solar modules, making solar PV energy among the cheapest and most affordable sources of electricity in most parts of the world. Consequently, governments the world over, and corporations alike, have pursued the design implementation and operation of large “utility-scale” solar projects. To put this in perspective, in year-2020, solar photovoltaic (PV) technology was the largest contributor to the total renewable energy (RE) capacity added around the world, with new capacity additions growing by about 22% year-on-year, reaching 127 GWp of new capacity commissioned.

However, the development of RE projects, and more specifically solar PV projects, is often uncoordinated, potentially leading to the accumulation of too much capacity or the access to too little capacity in certain jurisdictions. This could lead to sub-optimal use of the project asset, especially in the absence of commensurate transmission infrastructure. The limited availability of robust geospatial information on the rapid expansion of RE capacity could be problematic for other reasons as well. For instance, the long-term impacts of large scale solar PV installations on indigenous biodiversity have not been studied extensively. Some of the studies have indicated that large-scale plants could result in soil degradation and leave an adverse impact on water availability. Moreover, while choosing new plant locations, planners use solar irradiation maps or solar suitability maps superimposed with technical and socioeconomic constraints, as a proxy for actual location data. “Sufficient location data would allow researchers to interrogate the socioeconomic drivers of renewable energy infrastructure siting at a global scale to produce probability surfaces for energy development”.

In recent times a few researchers, data service providers and think tanks have created databases to address the need for aggregating and disseminating geospatial information on plant location. Wiki-Solar, (https://wiki-solar.org/) one of the solar databases, holds both geographical and technical information of utility-scale solar photovoltaic power plants in operation around the world; Wiki-Solar also carries information relating to several PV plants at various stages of development. The database contains information relating to over 12,000 projects including details of some 8,500 operational projects. The data provided on Wiki-Solar is believed to be comprehensive for projects of over 10MWp in capacity, but might be considered incomplete for smaller projects.

Another, more recent, database is the Global Solar Power Tracker (GSPT) by Global Energy Monitor (GEM): an online tool that maps solar power plants around the world with capacities exceeding 20MWp. Currently, the GSPT includes 5,190 operational solar projects across 148 countries and an additional 3,551 potential projects at various stages of development and implementation. Every solar project is linked to a wiki page on the GEM wiki platform.

Such geospatial information could be useful for stakeholders concerned, to plan the location of utility-scale solar PV plants and to meet projected demand, while also working on conserving existing biodiversity and natural resources at these sites.

1. IRENA (2021), “Renewable Capacity Statistics 2021”, https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2021/Apr/IRENA_RE_Capacity_Statistics_2021.pdf, last accessed May 31, 2022
2. Hernandez, R. R. et al (2014), “Environmental impacts of utility-scale solar energy”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol 29, 766–779 (2014), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2013.08.041

3.Dunnet et al (2020), “Harmonised global datasets of wind and solar farm locations and power”, Scientific data, Vol 7, 130, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-020-0469-8, last accessed May 31, 2022

4. Wiki-Solar (2022) https://wiki-solar.org/data/, last accessed May 31, 2022.
5. Molina, Pilar Sanchez (2022), “Global online database for solar parks above 20MW”, PV Magazine, May 30, https://www.pv-magazine-india.com/2022/05/30/global-online-database-for-solar-parks-above-20-mw/, last accessed May 31, 2022.

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Tags: Global, Global, Policy, Report, PV_roadmapping, Research_center, innovation_4,  Article, s_Professional, Program, Guidelines, Case_study, relevance_Very important

 

(052) – 6/1/2022 2:48:51 PM