This summer, for the first time, a solar park will float within an offshore wind farm. The construction by the Dutch company Oceans of Energy is slightly smaller than a football field and should demonstrate that the technology really works.
Oceans of Energy has already had a smaller test setup floating off the Dutch coast for the past four years, which has survived several major storms. Now, for the first time, solar panels will float between wind turbines: a world first. This summer, the construction will be towed from the port of Amsterdam to the wind farm.
The floating solar park consists of modular elements that are linked together in the port. From a distance, the solar park is hardly noticeable, as demonstrated during the presentation on Thursday. The solar panels are so close to the water surface that they almost seem to disappear into it. Because of this design, the solar park is named after a water lily: nymphaea aurora.
Waves can wash over the panels from the sides. In the middle are cabinets with technical equipment. They are the same solar panels as those used on land, but the floating construction is a proprietary design and comes from the Oceans of Energy factory in Sassenheim. The solar park will provide approximately the same amount of energy as the solar roofs of 150 Dutch households.
Compared to the power generation of the gigantic windmills in wind farm Hollandse Kust Noord, that is almost nothing, but according to Oceans of Energy, that could change in the future. The company hopes to work towards floating solar parks of 1 square kilometer, with a capacity of 200 megawatts. That is equivalent to 18 wind turbines.
Space between turbines currently unused
Now it is still much more expensive to float a solar park than to build one in a meadow. But according to Allard van Hoeken, director of Oceans of Energy, that could change. “In the future, it may be cheaper to do it at sea, because it can be much larger in scale,” he tells NU.nl.
At sea, for example, you don’t have to take buildings into account. Moreover, no expensive land is needed that could also be useful for housing or agriculture. The space between wind turbines is currently not used, because wind farms are closed to fishing and other shipping for safety reasons.
In addition, there is already a substantial power cable that is mainly used when it is less sunny. By covering 20 percent of the surface of a wind farm with solar panels, energy production can be doubled, according to Van Hoeken.
Netherlands is a leader
The Netherlands is at the forefront of floating solar parks. In addition to Oceans of Energy, the companies SolarDuck and Bluewater are also located here. They all work together with researchers from TNO to further develop and put the technology into practice.
The government has encouraged wind farm builders to work together with developers of floating solar parks. There are two more wind farms under construction that will have increasingly larger amounts of solar panels.
To maintain its leading position, the Netherlands should continue to stimulate the development of offshore solar parks, Van Hoeken believes. He advocates the use of subsidies that guarantee a certain energy price. Such subsidies were also available for the first offshore wind farms.
Researchers measure impact on nature
The effect of the floating solar panels on nature is not yet precisely known. Measurements at the first test setup show that fish like to shelter under the solar panels and that mussels grow on the underside. Seabirds and seals know how to find the panels as a resting place.
On a very large scale, floating solar panels could cause changes in the ecosystem, says marine geologist Henko de Stigter of research institute NIOZ. It can affect plankton growth, because less sunlight enters the water.
In clear seas, there would also be consequences for the bottom life. “You wouldn’t want to hang the panels above a coral reef,” says De Stigter. But in the North Sea that effect is limited, because the water is so murky. As a result, it is already quite dark on the bottom.
The NIOZ will monitor the natural effects of the solar panels and the surrounding turbines with measuring stations that have been installed on the seabed. Oceans of Energy director Van Hoeken sees mainly opportunities for his sector. “This will be incredibly big,” he predicts.