Oceans of Energy, a young Dutch company, can really start shaping the development of its unique solar farm at sea. The company, which also involves other Dutch companies and knowledge institutions, has received a €300,000 investment from investment fund UNIQ. Together with the earlier financial support from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland), the consortium can make great strides in the development of a floating power plant that will soon be able to generate clean energy through solar panels at sea in places where there is a scarcity of land.
The consortium consists of ECN, TNO, MARIN, TAQA and Oceans of Energy. In addition, Utrecht University, together with Oceans of Energy, is conducting a study into the electricity production of an initial prototype at sea. This will be compared with production on land, as production at sea is expected to be on average 15% higher.
"What we are going to put up here in three years is extraordinary and never done before. Solar farms have already been laid on inland waters, but at sea it has never been done before because it is very difficult. After all, you have to deal with huge waves and other destructive forces of nature there. With the knowledge and experience of these Dutch knowledge institutions and companies from the offshore industry, we are convinced of success," said Allard van Hoeken, founder and CEO of initiator Oceans of Energy. Van Hoeken previously realised the floating tidal power plant Bluetec, which generated clean energy from the tides near Texel for a year, and was named Engineer of the Year in 2015 for it, becoming the first to receive the Prins Friso Ingenieur Prize.
UNIQ's latest investment will allow further steps to be taken in the development of floating solar panels and their testing. "We expect to put a fully working system on the North Sea for the first time in the next 12 months."
Islands and remote locations
Large-scale solar energy systems at sea do not exist as yet. Nevertheless, it is a uniquely sustainable way to generate energy because it does not take up any space on land. So it is ideal for islands and remote locations worldwide. "By using the space between offshore wind turbines in the North Sea in the future, many times more energy can be generated on the same surface area. This is very interesting for the Netherlands."
Wijnand van Hooff, Programme Director Solar Energy TKI Urban Energy, says: "The potential of solar energy is enormous. The National Solar Trend Report 2018 shows that solar energy can eventually cover over three quarters of the total Dutch energy supply. The potential of floating solar parks to fill a significant part of this potential is huge, but the innovation challenges are also considerable. By cleverly bringing together Dutch knowledge in solar technologies and offshore knowledge, an entirely new application of solar energy is being developed in the Netherlands. Projects like this are of great importance to eventually realise both the commercial- and energetic-potential of the application."
Dr Wilfried van Sark, Associate Professor at Utrecht University and solar energy expert, continued: "We are very pleased to be a participant in this research into the performance of floating solar panels at sea and thus be at the forefront of this new and challenging application of solar at sea."
Oceans of Energy cannot yet tell much about the technology behind the floating solar farm, by the way, enquiries reveal. This is likely to follow later this year.
Financial support
The consortium will receive financial support from RVO.nl over three years from the Top Sector Energy of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate to realise the project. "It is an interesting innovation project partly because of its high replication potential. Besides additional sustainable energy production, it can also lead to making oil and gas platforms more sustainable. RVO.nl looks forward with interest to the results, including yields and lifespan, in these difficult demanding sea conditions," said Frank Witte, Manager Energy Innovation at RVO.nl. Floating solar at sea fits well with maritime Netherlands and brings the world new hope for infinite clean energy Allard van Hoeken concludes, "Floating solar at sea is a product that fits well with our country with our maritime knowledge and experience. The whole world can benefit. The majority of people on earth live in coastal areas. The Netherlands Antilles can also benefit from this development. By starting to put solar at sea into practice now, we expect to create a major positive impact worldwide."
The company
Oceans of Energy is a young company that specialises in offshore renewable energy. Based in Leiden, the company develops floating systems for clean energy generation at sea. Besides its own product development, Oceans of Energy provides support to other companies in the field of anchoring technology and environmental impact research.
By: Kelly Bakker
Source: Oceans of Energy
