Norwegian floating PV specialist Ocean Sun plans IPO

Norwegian floating PV specialist Ocean Sun is seeking a listing on the Merkur Market, a multilateral trading facility which has offered small and medium-sized companies access to the Oslo Stock Exchange since 2016.

The company aims to raise NOK100 million ($10.9 million) through the initial public offering. “The funding round is necessary in order for Ocean Sun to expand its operation abroad but also to reinforce local engineering resources in Norway,” Ocean Sun CEO Børge Bjørneklett told pv magazine. “We are involved in several demonstration projects but since they are relatively small we don’t make sufficient revenue yet and we need external financing to progress faster and stronger.”

The net proceeds will also be used for research and development, working capital and general corporate purposes, according to the company.

Ocean Sun has developed an innovative design for floating PV projects at near-shore locations and in semi-sheltered waters. The patented system consists of a floating buoyancy ring anchored to the seabed with four mooring points and twelve lines.

In mid-July, the company signed a deal to develop the pilot projects for the 2.1 GW floating solar site planned near the Saemangeum tidal flat, on the coast of the Yellow Sea in South Korea. That agreement includes a technology license for a demonstration system with a follow-on option for a minimum of 100 MW of generation capacity within 18 months. “We will normally take a small license fee per Watt installed in each project,” Bjørneklett added. “This is also the arrangement in the Saemangeum project.”