World’s largest floating solar farm in London is set to begin operating

The Thames Water project has been ongoing for five years

Construction of the world’s largest floating solar farm is nearing completion at the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir in Walton-on-Thames.

The £6 million project comprises more than 23,000 solar panels that will generate around 6.3MW of energy, to power Thames Water’s nearby water treatment facilities.

The water organisation, which owns the site, believes that the farm will have little to no impact on the surrounding environment, as it covers approximately 6% of the surface area of the reservoir. Erecting the platform on water will also help to regulate the temperature of the panels and there is no need to request planning permissions for such water-based set-ups unlike land-based ones.

Angus Berry, energy manager for Thames Water, said: “This will be the biggest floating solar farm in the world for a time - others are under construction. We are leading the way, but we hope that others will follow, in the UK and abroad.” 

The company is focusing on producing more of its own renewable energy and has fitted solar platforms at 41 of its facilities. Future plans to develop more sources may be quashed due to government cuts to subsidies for wind and solar power. Farmers that install solar systems on pastoral land will also no longer receive subsidies for the land.

United Utilities, another water company, is building a smaller solar farm on a reservoir near Manchester. In Japan work on a flotilla, which will be twice the size of the QEII farm, is scheduled for completion in 2018. The plant will feature around 50,000 panels and generate 13.7MW at its peak.

The QEII reservoir is one of London's largest with a surface area of 312 acres. Built in 1962, the raised banks of the infrastructure mean that it can be only be seen from a few high-rise buildings in the area and from an aircraft.