The Nautical Sunrise consortium partners are looking to create the world’s largest offshore floating solar (OFS) power installation offshore the Netherlands.
Research and development on the OFS systems and the components of the €8.4m ($9.1m) project, supported by €6.8m from the Horizon Europe programme, has already started. The project will enable the large-scale deployment and commercialisation of OFS systems, both as standalone systems and integrated into offshore wind farms.
The project development partners consist of the Dutch Marine Energy Centre, SolarDuck, RWE, Blunova, Bridon-Bekaert, The Ropes Group, Deltares, Hasselt University, KU Leuven, Oxford, Sintef Industry, Sintef Ocean, The Catalonia Institute for Energy Research, INESC TEC, and WavEC Offshore Renewables.
This project will design and build a 5MW OFS system using SolarDuck’s floating solar solution with RWE providing the investment for the installation and deployment. The system will be electrically integrated, certified, and located within RWE’s OranjeWind – Hollandse Kust West VII – wind farm off the west coast of The Netherlands.
The project will assess the environmental footprint, circularity, and full life cycle sustainability of such systems. This assessment will not only cover the demonstrator project but also include multiple GW-scale commercial projects, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the technology’s ecological implications.
“Not only do we have the chance to address important knowledge gaps around the design and environmental impact of offshore solar. Together with RWE and the OranjeWind consortium, we can do so in full alignment and integration with a commercial offshore wind park,” said Dutch Marine Energy Centre CTO Simon Stark.
