Floating PV panels could be headed out to sea amid growing interest in offshore solar.
Last month, a Belgian consortium including Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering (DEME), Tractebel, Jan De Nul Group, Soltech and Ghent University announced plans to build a solar farm in the North Sea, in combination with offshore wind or aquaculture.
“We are confident that high-wave offshore solar technology can play a key role in realizing a sustainable energy transition,” said DEME’s CEO, Luc Vandenbulcke, in a press statement. “We look forward to working to develop and install the world’s first high-wave offshore solar farm.”
In June, meanwhile, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority issued a request for proposals from consultants willing to study, develop and construct floating solar plants in the Arabian Gulf.
The announcements followed the news last year that Oceans of Energy, a Dutch company, had formed a consortium to design, build and operate the world’s first offshore floating solar farm. The project, off the coast of Scheveningen, the Netherlands, will be in operation before next year, according to the Oceans of Energy website.
