Floating solar power plant has tourism potential

Thailand’s transition to green energy is designed to protect the environment, and it could also be a boom for tourism. Locals are already streaming into Thailand’s first floating solar power plant to get a look at the landmark project in the Kingdom’s green revolution.

“When I learned that this dam has the world’s biggest hydro-solar farm, I knew it is worth seeing with my own eyes,” tourist Duangrat Meesit, 46, told a news agency.

The power plant at the Sirindhorn Dam in northeastern Ubol Ratchathani province is the first of fifteen such facilities Thailand plans to build by 2037. It represents a first step on the path towards a cleaner and more renewable energy system.

The dual-source plants should make a significant contribution to the country’s pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, and net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065.

The dams already generate hydropower. Now, with hundreds of solar panels floating atop the reservoirs created by the dams, the facilities can churn out even more electricity in a sustainable environmentally friendly fashion.

The installation at the Sirindhorn Dam covers 7.75 million square feet of water surface. It converts sunlight to electricity by day and generates hydropower at night.

The reservoirs had already been attracting local tourists because of their picturesque placid scenery. Now even more tourists are beginning to arrive to the historic project that represents a better and cleaner future for the Kingdom.

The hydro-solar plant has added to the appeal of Ubol Ratchathani and has moved up the steps to be one of prime destinations for tourists in the Kingdom. Tourism officials are hopeful that more dams in other northeastern provinces will also draw more visitors to the region.

Photo courtesy of: https://www.egat.co.th/