| Work Detail |
In a collaborative effort spearheaded by Oceans of Energy and fifteen leading European partners, an EU Joint Industry Project has been initiated to upscale offshore solar technology, paving the way for standard formats of 150 MW and facilitating the development of Gigawatt-scale farms. This ambitious endeavor aims to establish a new benchmark in offshore energy farms, leveraging the placement of solar farms within offshore wind farms to optimize sea space utilization, increase energy output, ensure continuous power supply across seasons, and drive down costs for green electricity production and energy systems.
Allard van Hoeken, Founder and CEO of Oceans of Energy, expressed enthusiasm for advancing offshore solar technology as a pivotal component of the renewable energy transition. He emphasized the significance of standardized, large-scale offshore solar farms in revolutionizing the energy landscape of the North Sea, highlighting their potential to seamlessly integrate between offshore wind turbines and unlock optimized multi-source offshore energy farms without encroaching on limited land space.
Oceans of Energy, renowned for its pioneering work in offshore solar, previously deployed the world’s first offshore solar farm for high waves in the rough Dutch North Sea in 2019. Currently, the company is embarking on the construction of the first offshore solar farm within the Shell/Eneco Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind farm, with a mission to deliver clean and abundant renewable energy in harmony with nature to coastal communities worldwide.
Andrea Bombardi, Carbon Reduction Excellence Executive Vice President of RINA, underscored the project’s contribution to enabling feasible business cases for offshore solar renewable energy. RINA, leveraging its expertise in energy yield assessment services for solar plants and floating offshore systems, will pioneer the development of a new predictive yield model for this emerging technology.
The collaboration, coordinated by RINA, encompasses offshore solar developer Oceans of Energy, four technology developers, five technical and environmental consultancies, three testing laboratories, the European Marine Board think tank, and offshore wind farm developer Vattenfall. Together, they aim to address remaining challenges in the rollout of large-scale offshore solar into new and existing wind farms, including proving the robustness and performance of solar panels in offshore conditions and ensuring sustainability across the value chain.
The project, titled BAMBOO (Build scAlable Modular Bamboo-inspired Offshore sOlar systems), seeks to mature technologies and attract funds for the first-of-its-kind 100-200 MW offshore solar farm at a Vattenfall offshore wind farm by the end of the decade. The project’s holistic approach aims to minimize total energy system investments, reduce environmental impacts, and contribute to the development of international standards and testing methodologies for offshore solar technology. |
