off-shore PV

Germany’s RWE is partnering with offshore PV specialist SolarDuck to build a 0.5 MW floating solar plant near an offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

Floating PV is a growing niche in the solar sector, but its offshore segment has proven more difficult to activate, largely because of the difficulty of open-water energy generation. Nevertheless, one company in Singapore, G8 Subsea, aims to leave the safety of harbors and reservoirs.

Developed by scientists in Malta, the tool is said to predict yield gains or losses that waves can determine in offshore PV installations. The research group identified three movements an offshore array can be subject to, and for each of them provided specific measurements.

Dutch start-up SolarDuck has secured approval-in-principle for its floating offshore platforms. Its 64 kW pilot project on the inshore water of the Netherlands’ widest river was validated by Bureau Veritas.

The 50 kW modular PV system started operating at the end of November 2019. According to its developer, Dutch start-up Oceans of Energy, power production after 18 months of operations is in line with expectations. The installation had to withstand several storms and waves with a height of up to 10 meters.

The new floating structures can be made of light, reinforced concrete or similar materials, and are claimed to withstand 6m high waves. They can be utilized with standard photovoltaic modules that are currently available on the market.

Underwater gravity energy storage has been proposed as an ideal solution for weekly energy storage, by an international group of scientists. The novel technology is considered an alternative to pumped-hydro storage for coasts and islands without mountains that are located close to deep waters, and may also be interesting for PV if used to store green hydrogen.

Researchers at the Norwegian institute Sintef are testing a special floating structure that Equinor wants to deploy in offshore waters. The structure is built with an anchoring system that is claimed to give the installation enough freedom to cope with the waves.

Italy’s Saipem is planning what could be the world’s largest offshore PV plant — a 100 MW facility located off the coast of the Italian northern region of Emilia-Romagna. The project, whose approval process began two years ago, is expected to become operational by the end of 2025.

Dutch startup SolarDuck has developed a triangular structure for floating PV that resembles an offshore oil platform. CEO Koen Burgers told pv magazine that it keeps panels more than 3 meters above the water surface, and claimed that the structure can handle waves and dynamic loads. It will be used in a Dutch pilot project from April.