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Sinopec Commissions China’s First Commercial Floating Offshore Solar Project in Full-Seawater Environment

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), in collaboration with Shandong Province and Qingdao Municipality, has launched China’s first commercial floating offshore photovoltaic (PV) project designed for full-seawater environments. This pioneering project, located in a sea-connected area, covers 60,000 square meters and features a 7.5 MW installed capacity. It is expected to generate 16.7 million kWh of green electricity annually and cut carbon emissions by 14,000 tons.

Integrated with Sinopec's earlier pile-based floating PV installations, it forms the largest floating PV power station under the company. The innovative design utilizes seawater cooling to boost energy efficiency by 5–8% and maintains a close alignment with tidal fluctuations, significantly improving spatial and structural efficiency.

Sinopec introduced three major innovations to enable PV application in seawater environments:

Salt- and corrosion-resistant floats and supports to withstand marine conditions; A robust anchoring system tolerating wind speeds up to Level 13 and 3.5-meter tidal variations, cutting investment costs by ~10%; Improved maintenance access via panel arrangements close to the water surface.

This project marks a breakthrough in marine solar technology, promoting the scalability of offshore floating PV in coastal and shallow sea regions.