Kenzhekhan Abuov

Kenzhekhan Abuov is a Senior Project Officer working on a special assignment in the Regional Cooperation and Integration Unit of the Central and West Asia Department (CWRD) of the Asian Development Bank. He is responsible for Climate Change Vision and cross-sectoral assessments, as well as for the energy and tourism sectors in CWRD. Mr. Abuov led the work on promoting the Energy Transition Mechanism in Kazakhstan. He was also part of the team that prepared legal and structural reforms in the Heating sector reforms in Kazakhstan. Mr.

Silvia Cardascia

Silvia is a water resources specialist at ADB, where she supports the design of projects in the People’s Republic of China and Mongolia. She also works on knowledge management and is one of the authors of the Asian Water Development Outlook 2020. Prior to joining ADB in 2018, she was a research assistant at the University of Oxford, a United Nations Fellow and a Programme Officer for the Italian Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa.

Environmental Impacts of Floating Solar Panels on Water Bodies

There has been a global trend of increasing deployment of floating solar panels (floatovoltaics) on water bodies over the last few years. Drivers for this have included potential reduction in evaporation and the desire to decarbonize electricity production. Given these environmental motivations, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the impact that floatovoltaics will have on the water body ecosystem itself, despite the many environmental goods and services which water bodies provide.

Building Trust in Floating Solar Through Quality and Reliability

Since its early development in 2010, Floating Solar has gained more and more popularity. With more than 1 GWp of the project installed, it is now recognized, and well-established market created out of a response to the land scarcity for developing large scale projects. Such development has been attracted investments, but most of the projects are still based on recourse financing, due to the lack of standards, and the absence of clear guidelines and good practices.

Where Sun Meets Water: Latest Global Development Trends Regarding Floating Solar and Research Updates from SERIS Floating PV Testbed in Singapore

The interest in floating photovoltaic power plants (FPV) has grown rapidly in recent years. In many established and emerging markets, such as Japan, South Korea, UK, the People's Republic of China, and India, FPV is already considered as an attractive and viable option. In Southeast Asia, FPV can unlock huge additional capacity in the many existing hydropower plants. However, FPV is relatively new and there is a lack of long-term experience. Reliability and durability is a critical issue that needs to be addressed.

Floating Solar—What’s the Potential in South East Asia? Lessons Learned from the United States

To ensure reliable, affordable, and sustainable future power supplies many countries in Southeast Asia are exploring options for new generation. Floating solar photovoltaics (FPV) are becoming an increasingly competitive option. However, the technology is still nascent, and many potential adopters have questions about its benefits, how to analyze it appropriately, and the underlying technology.