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In a bid to make use of vacant land to generate clean power, JTC Corp has called for a tender to set-up solar panels on a 3.9ha site in Jurong Island (pictured), reported Channel NewsAsia.
Usually, solar panels are put on rooftops and these stay there for up to 20 years.
But this first-of-its kind project in Singapore dubbed SolarLand aims to place solar panels on unused plots, with the option of dismantling and relocating these platforms within six months if the land is developed, said Heah Soon Poh, JTC’s assistant CEO of engineering and operations group.
Among the companies hoping to secure the job is solar energy system developer Sunseap Group, which intends to deploy “modular” structures that can be assembled and re-assembled easily like Lego blocks.
“If the mounting structure has to be redesigned and customised for the new site conditions, then you may not be able to use back the same mounting structure. So, in having a modular design that can be easily decommissioned and brought to a new location, we can reuse the mounting system,” said Shawn Tan, Sunseap’s senior business development manager for special projects.
According to JTC Corp, it will shoulder the expenses for relocating the solar panels. The duration of the contract is six years, with the option to extend for another two terms of six years each.
But Tan pointed out that this could be an issue as investors typically fund solar systems that stay in a fixed area for at least 20 years “When it comes to such a movable system, they are unfamiliar, and it may be a challenge to convince the financiers that such a system is bankable,” he noted.
Photo: Jack Lee, Wikimedia Commons
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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