Thailand plans to build the world’s largest floating solar farms to power Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy and to boost the country’s share of clean energy. State-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand will float 16 solar farms with a combined capacity of more than 2.7 gigawatts in nine of its hydroelectric dam reservoirs by 2037, said Thepparat Theppitak, a deputy governor with the utility. Several of the proposed projects are more than double the size of the world’s largest floating system. The plan represents an ambitious bet for Thailand on floating solar, which tends to be more expensive than the ground-mounted units that dominate the sector. If EGAT builds all its proposed projects, the company says floating solar will account for one tenth of the country’s clean energy sources. Thailand has been moving towards generating more electricity from renewable sources in recent years. It has set the goal that renewable energy will make up 27 percent of overall capacity by 2037, according to its latest power development plan. The bidding for the first floating solar project will begin in two months and will be open to international companies, Thepparat said, with the budget set at 2 billion baht ($63 million) for a 45 megawatt farm at Sirindhorn Dam in northeast Thailand. That plant is expected to come online next year. Bloomberg