Floating photovoltaic plants as an electricity supply option in the Tocantins-Araguaia basin

Abstract

Brazil has high solar potential. The yearly sum of solar irradiation is approximately 1924.07 kWh/m2, therefore, harnessing this potential is promising. The country is dependent on hydroelectric plants, however, increasingly frequent droughts have severely affected hydrogeneration. The installation of floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems in existing hydropower reservoirs, would provide additional electricity to help compensate hydropower production during dry periods and reduce evaporation losses while helping to sustainably meet Brazil's electricity demand. This study provide an analysis of FPV potential in Brazil's region, named the Tocantins-Araguaia Basin, by using water surface data from 30 hydropower reservoirs. In addition to the new electricity production, evaporation savings and its extra potential hydroelectricity were also estimated. A survey of the reduction in CO2 emissions was conducted, given that the complementary electricity to hydroelectric plants would be through solar generation, thus avoiding the activation of thermoelectric plants. The main results indicate the high FPV potential, corresponding to an electricity production that varies from 25.04 to 2555.04 TWh/year, and a range of 19.86–2024.30 million tCO2/year of avoided emissions. Regarding the potential arising from the evaporation water savings, the values vary between 16.17 and 892.95 GWh/year.