POWER January 2013 - 9

released " Innovative Strategy for Energy and Environment " aims
to reduce reliance on nuclear power, which had in 2010 provided
a quarter of all electricity generated in Japan. But even if no new
nuclear plants are built through 2035 beyond the two reactors at
Shimane-3 and Ohma that are already at an advanced stage of
construction, and existing plants are subjected to shorter lifetimes,
nuclear generation could recover a 20% share by 2020
(but could be slashed to 15% by 2035, its share picked up by
renewables), the current Outlook suggests.
The European Union (EU), which pioneered and continues to
be at the forefront of renewable deployment, in 2011 drew away
from gas-fired generation (which fell by 17%) and moved toward
coal-fired generation (which increased by 11%), driven by higher
gas prices and lowered carbon prices in the systemwide Emissions
Trading System. The IEA forecasts that trend will continue in the
short term even if carbon prices increase over the 2013-2020
period. The share of coal-fired generation will drop " dramatically "
from 26% in 2010 to just 9% in 2035, the report says, citing
higher carbon prices and a greater penetration of renewables.
Gas-fired generation will also regain market share in the longer
term as the share of nuclear power will decline (from 28% in
2010 to 22% in 2035) as more capacity is retired.
One notable trend emerging globally concerns increased urgency
to reform competitive electricity markets to buttress against
increased price volatility associated with the surge of renewables
and " ensure that the risks of investing in other capacity-such
as flexible peaking plants, storage, interconnection or demand
response-are correctly priced, " the report says. With more interconnections
being established between neighboring markets
to uphold system adequacy, electricity markets are becoming increasingly
integrated.
Floating Solar-on Water
The recent explosive growth of massive solar plants in some of
the world's most remote deserts has stolen some of the spotlight
from smaller solar installations that float on water. But in November,
a concept proposed by researchers at Norwegian foundation
DNV (Det Norske Veritas) for a dynamic floating offshore
solar field concept stirred up myriad possibilities, particularly for
congested urban regions such as coastal megacities.
The so-called " SUNdy " concept essentially involves a floating
hexagonal array that can be grouped together for a power capacity
of as much as 2 MW (Figure 3). Multiple islands connected
together make up a solar field of 50 MW, DNV said.
SUNdy uses thin-film 560-W photovoltaic (PV) solar panels that
are flexible and lighter than the traditional rigid glass-based modules,
allowing them to undulate with the ocean's surface, as Sanjay
Kuttan, managing director of the DNV Clean Technology Centre in
Singapore, explained. " The key to creating an ocean-based structure
of this size is the use of a tension-only design. Rather like a spider's
web, this dynamic, compliant structure yields to the waves, yet is
capable of withstanding considerable external loads acting upon it. "
According to Dr. Kuttan, separating the solar arrays into pre3202
MetFab 4c ad:Layout 1 1/19/10 3:28 PM Page 1
fabricated sections allows for large-scale manufacturing and
streamlined assembly offshore. The cable grid provides for maintenance
access in the form of floating gangways. Below the surface,
the shape of the island is maintained by the tensile forces
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POWER January 2013

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