Dutch renewable energy company SolarDuck has secured certification for its 0.5 MW floating offshore solar pilot project from certification specialist Bureau Veritas.
The Merganser project, developed by SolarDuck and supported by RWE, has a capacity of 520 kW. It includes six interconnected platforms and is designed to withstand challenging offshore conditions such as high waves, strong winds and corrosive environments.
Bureau Veritas certified the design to withstand a maximum wave height of 11.6 meters at a water depth of 21.5 meters. The project will now be deployed off the coast of The Hague, in the North Sea, where its performance will continue to be evaluated.
The certification has been billed as the world’s first prototype certification for floating offshore solar technology. It follows an Approval in Principle granted for the floating structure. The technology will now be evaluated for type certification.
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“A key step in making the technology bankable is obtaining certification of the technology,” said SolarDuck CTO Don Hoogendoorn. “As long-standing partners, SolarDuck has cooperated closely together with Bureau Veritas to verify the technology for the harsh North Sea conditions, marking a significant milestone in the development of our offshore floating solar technology.”
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In December 2023, SolarDuck said it had secured €15 million ($16.2 million) for the development and deployment of offshore floating solar technology. At the time, it said that it aimed to deploy more than 1 GW of offshore solar by 2030.
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