Researchers from the Sapienza University of Rome have estimated the technical potential of offshore floating PV systems in the Italian energy landscape and have identified the near-shore regions of the Adriatic Sea, the Gulf of Taranto, selected areas of Sicily, and parts of Sardinia as the most suitable locations for deployment.
“We identified suitable areas for offshore floating PV deployment using realistic constraints based on current industry trends and limits as well as metocean conditions and bathymetry data,” the research's lead author, Leonardo Micheli, told pv magazine. “The Italian Exclusive Economic Zone is used as a representative case study. The assessed areas are ranked according to their level of suitability: while some variables, such as protected areas and ferry routes, are binary exclusion criteria, others are considered more or less viable through a continuous suitability ranking. This way, it is possible to identify areas more and less favourable to offshore floating PV installations.”
In the study “Mapping feasibility and energy potential of offshore floating photovoltaics in Italy,” published in Energy for Sustainable Development, Micheli and his colleagues explained the offshore floating PV remains at an early stage of development due to the technical complexity of operating in harsh marine environments.
This PV system type, on the other hand, face significant challenges, including corrosion from seawater, structural stress from waves and wind, higher maintenance requirements, and elevated levelized costs of electricity (LCOE). Environmental concerns also persist, particularly regarding impacts on marine ecosystems, seabed disturbance, and reduced light penetration into the water column. Previous research also noted that wave movement can alter module tilt and orientation, causing mismatch losses that may reduce annual energy production by up to 9% under extreme sea conditions.
The scientists also highlighted, however, that offshore installations may benefit from large unobstructed surfaces, high solar exposure, and lower operating temperatures resulting from cooler ambient conditions and stronger winds, which can improve module efficiency. They also offer limited visual impact and can be co-located with offshore wind farms, enabling shared infrastructure, smoother power generation profiles, and lower overall system costs.
The researchers developed a geospatial multi-criteria model to assess the technical feasibility of offshore floating PV deployment across Italy’s Exclusive Economic Zone. Using QGIS software, they combined oceanographic, environmental, and operational datasets to create a feasibility index ranging from 0 to 1 for offshore and nearshore areas. The model incorporated ten key parameters, including wave height, wave period, wind speed, current speed, bathymetry, distance to shore, fishing activity, protected marine areas, and ferry routes. Each parameter was assigned a suitability score based on both engineering constraints and literature values.
The team also created a Hydrodynamic Severity Index combining wave height and peak period to better represent offshore conditions affecting floating structures. The methodology ultimately enabled the calculation of potential installed capacity and annual electricity generation for different offshore suitability classes along the Italian coast.
The spatial feasibility analysis identified several highly suitable offshore regions for floating PV deployment along the Italian coastline, particularly in the Adriatic Sea, the Gulf of Taranto, around Sicily, and near Sardinia. These areas combine moderate wave and wind conditions, favorable bathymetry, and relatively short distances from shore.
The researchers also found that exploiting only around 2% of Italy’s technically feasible offshore floating PV area could theoretically generate enough electricity to meet the country’s annual power demand of 306.1 TWh. Sensitivity analyses confirmed that even under conservative assumptions, only a small fraction of the identified suitable marine area would be needed to satisfy national electricity consumption.
“This analysis demonstrates that, with continued advances in technology and cost reductions, offshore FPV could become a competitive and complementary component of the national electricity mix, particularly in countries with densely populated coastlines and high solar resource availability,” the research concluded, noting that their modeling could be easily applied to other regions.
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