"Philippines fishermen worry solar farm on lake will hurt incomes,"

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Unlike traditional solar farms on land, floating photovoltaics - or solar panels installed on reservoirs, ponds and offshore waters - are an attractive alternative for fossil fuel-dependent countries with scarce land and high population density.

Last year, Indonesia opened Southeast Asia's largest floating solar facility on a man-made reservoir.

But these novel projects may compete with people who depend on fishing and agriculture, according to a January report by the Responsible Energy Initiative of Forum for the Future, a collective of nongovernmental organizations pushing for "ecologically safe and socially just" renewable energy.

The report described the Laguna Lake project as a "testing ground" for the technology and the world's first large-scale photovoltaics operation on a natural lake...

Alcones is one of the 13,000 people who depend on the lake for their livelihoods, according to the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), a state agency...

But the Philippines' largest fishermen's alliance, the National Federation of Small Fisherfolk Organizations in the Philippines, or Pamalakaya, accused the LLDA of only consulting local government officials and small groups of Laguna fishermen.

Following a request by Pamalakaya, it met with the LLDA in Manila in July, when it raised concerns that the Laguna solar project could impact more than 8,000 fishermen, including 2,000 people who work in aquaculture...

"We are worried that the floating solar farms will further shrink our fishing grounds that have already been reduced by past development projects," [Pamalakaya chairperson Ronnell] Arambulo told The Thomson Reuters Foundation...

Fishermen from Pamalakaya fear the project would reduce catches and pose hazards to communities if they become untethered during strong typhoons and rising water levels, Arambulo said. The panels could also impede boats and destroy docks, he said...

"Depending on their specific location and scale, floating solar can reduce access to fishing grounds by independent fishermen," said Marvin Lagonera, Forum for the Future's energy transition strategist in Southeast Asia.

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