RWE Plans Floating Solar Park within Dutch Offshore Windfarm

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--German energy major RWE AG (Essen, Germany) has announced plans to include a large floating solar park within its forthcoming 760-megawatt (MW) Hollandse Kust West VII (Oranjwind) offshore windfarm off the west coast of the Netherlands.

The company, which is participating in the bids for both the Hollandse Kust West VI and VII windfarms, is teaming up with Dutch firm SolarDuck (Rotterdam, Netherlands), to design, build, and showcase a 5-MW offshore floating solar (OFS) system using its modular solution. RWE will oversee installation and deployment of the system, which will sit between turbines and be electrically integrated and certified. The project has received most of the funding from the Horizon Europe programme. It will be the largest open sea-based solar park in the world. Backed by the Nautical SUNRISE consortium, which comprises research and power companies, it will pave the way for much larger commercial-scale projects. The consortium said that it will "conduct extensive research and testing to ensure the reliability, survivability, electrical stability, and yield of offshore floating solar systems".

Floating solar parks are growing quickly in Europe, with most so far located on inland waters such as quarry lakes and reservoirs. The goal is to roll out more robust and larger projects in the North Sea, where there are many large windfarms already present and grid-connected. Industrial Info is tracking 50 floating solar park projects in Europe worth more than US$1.7 billion. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the report. At the end of last year, Europe's largest inland floating solar park, with a capacity of more than 40 MW, was commissioned at a large quarry lake in Selingen, Netherlands, comprising 76,000 panels.

"RWE is constantly looking for innovative ways to further improve the production of renewable energy offshore. We are very keen to further explore the potential of offshore floating solar together with our partner SolarDuck," said Sven Utermöhlen, chief executive officer of Wind Offshore at RWE Renewables. "For countries with lower mean wind speeds but high solar irradiation, this opens up attractive opportunities. We want to contribute to accelerate the energy transition, have a positive impact on marine ecology and help to integrate energy systems."

Simon Stark, chief technology officer with the Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC), added: "We are excited to coordinate the Nautical SUNRISE project as one of the flagship initiatives of offshore solar in Europe. Not only do we have the chance to address important knowledge gaps around the design and environmental impact of offshore solar but together with RWE and the OranjeWind consortium we can do so in full alignment and integration with a commercial offshore wind park."

According to research presented in a trend paper by InterSolar Europe, there is the potential to generate 25 gigawatts (GW) of capacity using inland waters and 45 GW out at sea. Additionally, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg, Germany, has calculated that the artificial lakes at former brown coal mines in Germany alone have the technical potential to host up to 56 GW of floating solar parks.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).