UK’s ‘Largest’ Floating Solar Farm Given Go-ahead
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
A floating solar farm described as the UK’s largest is to be built in the north of England after planning permission was approved.
These three paragraphs add more details.
The 46,500-panel array will be installed at the Port of Barrow’s Cavendish Dock in Cumbria and will be capable of producing enough energy to power 14,000 homes a year.
It will be built by Associated British Ports (ABP) and will be used to power the area’s advanced manufacturing sector, including submarine-maker BAE Systems.
The company’s divisional port manager Bryan Davies said the solar farm would “drive economic growth” and was a major milestone in the company’s plans to develop Port of Barrow.
This Google Map shows Cavendish Dock in the centre of Barrow-in-Furness.
Note.
- BAe Systems are in the West side of the map.
- It looks like the picture on the BBC article was taken from the East.
- In the picture the Cavendish Causeway runs across the bottom-left Corner.
- The solar array appears to be in the North side of the dock.
The solar array will be an impressive structure, when it is complete.
Offshore Solar Farm Ready For Tow Out To Hollandse Kust Noord Wind Project
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
What is described as the “world’s first” offshore solar farm integrated within a wind farm has completed assembly at the Port of Amsterdam and is ready for deployment at the Hollandse Kust Noord (HKN) offshore wind farm in the North Sea.
These two paragraphs give more details about the project.
Dutch company Oceans of Energy assembled the floating solar farm in three days. The system will be towed 18.5 kilometres offshore this summer to be installed at the HKN site, operated by CrossWind, a joint venture (JV) between Shell and Eneco.
According to Oceans of Energy, the project uses prefabricated floating solar units designed for offshore conditions and is seen as a step toward scaling hybrid wind-solar developments.
There are several ways to generate renewable energy.
As wind, solar, tidal and wave power are often out of phase with each other, if you are using two together in a hybrid setup, then it is probably not a bad idea to add a BESS or other form of storage to the mix.
In Oceans of Energy To Build Offshore Solar Array At Hollandse Kust Noord Offshore Wind Park, I said that the Dutch were putting batteries in the design of Hollanse Kust Noord offshore wind farm.
Work Starts On World’s Largest Floating Solar Project, Part of RWE’s OranjeWind
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The Nautical SUNRISE consortium partners have commenced the project whose goal is to facilitate research and development of offshore floating solar systems and its components. The project aims to integrate a 5 MW offshore floating solar system within RWE’s OranjeWind, a wind farm to be built 53 kilometres off the Dutch coast.
These three paragraphs outline the project.
Research and development on the offshore floating solar (OFS) systems and its components of the EUR 8.4 million project, supported by EUR 6.8 million of the Horizon Europe programme, kicked off in December 2023.
The project will enable the large-scale deployment and commercialisation of offshore floating solar systems in the future, both as standalone systems and integrated into offshore wind farms.
The project aims to design, build, and showcase a 5 MW OFS system using the modular solution of the Dutch floating company SolarDuck.
Note.
- It’s only the fourth of March and this is the second floating solar project of the month.
- The first was SolarDuck, Green Arrow Capital And New Developments S.R.L. Sign Collaboration Agreement For A Grid-Scale Offshore Hybrid Wind-Solar Project In Italy.
- I can understand Italy, but surely a solar farm in the Dutch waters of the North Sea, is being at least slightly optimistic.
But the home page of the Oranjewind web site, does have a mission statement of Blueprint For The New Generation Of Offshore Wind Farms.
Under a heading of The Perfect Match, this is said.
RWE’s OranjeWind offshore wind farm will be located 53 kilometers from the Dutch coast. To tackle the challenges of fluctuating power generation from wind and flexible energy demand, RWE has developed a blueprint for the integration of offshore wind farms in the Dutch energy system.
A combination of smart innovations and investments will be used to realise this perfect match between supply and demand.
Under Innovations At OranjeWind, this is said.
In order to realise system integration and accelerate the energy transition, RWE is working together with a number of innovators on new developments in offshore wind farms. The company is realising and testing these innovations in the OranjeWind wind farm.These innovations include offshore floating solar, a subsea lithium-ion battery, LiDAR power forecasting system and a subsea hydro storage power plant off-site.
These technologies have their own sections, which give more information.
- Subsea Pumped Hydro Storage Power Plant (Ocean Grazer)
- Floating Solar (SolarDuck)
- Intelligent Subsea Energy Storage (Verlume)
- LiDAR-based Power Forecasting (ForWind, University of Oldenburg)
The web site also says this about knowledge from OranjeWind.
There is a lot to learn in an innovative project such as OranjeWind. While developing the wind farm, RWE started the OranjeWind Knowledge programme. This programme aims to generate and share knowledge to accelerate the energy transition.
In strong partnerships with TNO and Dutch universities, research is carried out in parallel to the development and operation of OranjeWind. By sharing research results, lessons learned, and relevant in-house expertise, RWE aims to close knowledge gaps and provide valuable insights in key focus areas for system integration. The generated knowledge will become openly available to educational and research institutes, governments and the market.
To ensure the dissemination of knowledge, RWE will actively partner with educational institutions of all levels across the Netherlands. These partnerships allow RWE to share its expertise and provide the future workforce with the knowledge and skills needed to enable the energy transition.
It certainly appears that RWE intends to get as much out of this project as they can.
I don’t think that they can be criticised for that objective.
SolarDuck, Green Arrow Capital And New Developments S.R.L. Sign Collaboration Agreement For A Grid-Scale Offshore Hybrid Wind-Solar Project In Italy
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from SolarDuck.
These three bullet points, act as sub-headings.
- 540 MW hybrid offshore wind-solar farm offshore Corigliano, Calabria
- Milestone project to accelerate scaling of Offshore Floating Solar Photovoltaic (OFPV)
- Strategic collaboration proves the potential of the technology in Italy and the wider
Mediterranean region
These three paragraphs outline the project.
SolarDuck, leader in OFPV technology, Green Arrow Capital, leading Italian Independent Asset
Manager in the alternative investment world, and New Developments s.r.l., one of Italy’s
most experienced developers, have agreed to collaborate on the development of a landmark
120MWp OFPV farm integrated with 420MW Floating Offshore Wind (FOW).The project will install SolarDuck’s unique elevated platform technology that allows PV panels
to be deployed in significant wave heights whilst maintaining a safe working environment for
access and maintenance and minimizing environmental impact. In addition, the collaboration
will also allow the harnessing of the complementarity of wind and solar energy resources.“With the current momentum, we believe this is a unique opportunity for the offshore
renewable energy industry to help shape a favorable regulatory framework and facilitate the
scaling of OFPV. This is not just important for Italy, but also for other countries in the
Mediterranean. Our collaboration with New Developments and Green Arrow Capital can also
serve as a catalyst for OFPV in Italy”, says SolarDuck CEO, Koen Burgers.
This Google Map shows the location of Corigliano at the foot of Italy.
Note.
- Corigliano is indicated by the red arrow.
- There is an explanatory video of their technology on SolarDuck’s web site.
Opposite Corigliano on the other side of the can be seen the Italian Naval Base of Taranto, which was the scene of the Battle of Taranto, which was one of the most significant naval battles of Second World War, if not the most significant.
- This web page has the Fleet Air Arm’s account of the battle.
- I have a book, that shows the Japanese visiting Taranto after the battle.
- Did the Japanese use what they learned to plan their successful raid on Pearl Harbor?
- Without Pearl Harbor, would the Americans have stayed out of the Second World War?
I visited Taranto in the 1980s and stood on the Dockside. Perhaps, it is time to go again?
Conclusion
I have a feeling that a hybrid offshore wind-solar farm can generate more electricity in a given area, by making better use of the space available.
It will be interesting to see how this hybrid wind farm performs.
In an area with plenty of sun and wind, it could be a better solution.
Only the mathematics will tell.
Floating Solar Not Yet Up to Par To Be Brought Into Offshore Wind Tenders, Says BP’s Benelux Head Of Offshore Wind
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
System integration is what is needed for the next leap in offshore wind, however, not all technologies that can integrate with offshore wind farms have the same starting point. Floating solar still has some way to go in becoming more resilient to harsh offshore conditions. On the other hand, hydrogen is a more ready option with plenty of support from the industry, but it needs to be included and clearly defined in offshore wind tenders.
These two paragraphs describe the views of Frank Oomen, Head of Offshore Wind Benelux at BP.
This is according to Frank Oomen, Head of Offshore Wind Benelux at BP, who discussed financial and qualitative criteria in offshore wind auctions during the Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference 2023 (OEEC 2023).
Speaking about recently joining BP from the renewables industry, Oomen pointed out that, with offshore wind becoming larger scale, it needs to move in the direction of system integration and become an integrated energy business itself.
I had a lot of my engineering education, in ICI’s world of integrated chemical plants and I believe that Frank Oomen’s views are heading in the right direction.
If we take Frank Oomen’s views to their logical conclusion, we will see the following.
- Clusters of wind farms far from land in productive wind power areas.
- A nearby electrolyser will be producing hydrogen.
- The hydrogen will be taken to the shore by pipeline or tanker.
- BP with their oil and gas heritage, have been doing this for decades.
BP might even have some redundant gas infrastructure they can repurpose.
Oceans of Energy To Build Offshore Solar Array At Hollandse Kust Noord Offshore Wind Park
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Oceans of Energy has been awarded the contract for installing and operating offshore solar farm inside the Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind park being developed by CrossWind, a joint venture between Shell and Eneco.
This is the first paragraph.
This is set to be the first offshore solar farm in the world to be connected, installed, and operated within a wind farm in high wave conditions. The offshore solar farm will be realized in 2025, while the wind park will be operational by the end of 2023, according to Oceans of Energy.
These are some other points from the article.
- It looks like the solar will be floating.
- The wind/solar farm will have offshore battery storage.
- Green hydrogen will be generated offshore.
This wind/solar farm will be all things to all men and women.
SolarDuck & RWE Will Build A Floating Solar Park In The North Sea
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on CleanTechnica.
This is the sub-title.
SolarDuck and RWE will work together on an offshore floating solar project in the North Sea that will include battery storage.
These two paragraphs explain the concept.
Offshore wind is poised to provide a significant proportion of Europe’s electrical energy in the near future. But those towers and turbines have to be spaced fairly far apart to avoid interfering with each other. That leaves a lot of open ocean in between them, ocean that has sunlight falling on it all day long.
SolarDuck, a Dutch/Norwegian company, is working on floating solar technology that would float on the surface of the ocean to generate electricity to supplement the output from those offshore wind turbines. They already need to have undersea cables to carry their electricity ashore. Why not leverage that infrastructure to carry electricity from solar panels as well?
I would only worry about the economics.
I very much feel that the structures can be robust enough, given the wealth of experience with offshore oil and gas platforms and the experience in World War 2 with Lily and Clover.
The Anonymous Widower 