SUREWAVE

Structural reliable offshore floating pv solution integrating circular concrete floating breakwater.

Contact person

Balram Panjwani

Senior Research Scientist

31. August 2023

The SUREWAVE project aims to develop and test an innovative Floating Photo-Voltaic (FPV) system for offshore environments. This consists of an external floating breakwater structure made of new circular materials acting as a protection against severe wave loads on the FPV structure itself, allowing increased operational availability and energy output.

The European Offshore renewable energy strategy highlights the need for more established renewable energy technologies, and to diversify the technology portfolio to take maximum advantage of the vast potential offered by EU’s seas to become climate neutral by 2050. However, not all offshore renewable technologies are in the same stage of maturity. Floating Photo-Voltaic (FPV) is in the early R&D stage when it comes to open sea deployment (although already deployed in landlocked waters) and more development is needed. Experts have estimated that the total worldwide capacity of FPV could reach 62 GW by 2030. The limited deployment of offshore FPV is caused by the intrinsic characteristics of the marine environments (wind loads, wave loads, currents, corrosion, biofouling). The specific design and structure of the FPV influence its output power generation, durability and investment cost. Thus, offshore FPV systems need to be studied in detail (at the design, components, materials and structural levels) to ensure competitive offshore reliability, lifetime, easy installability and improved O&M, while considering economic, environmental, and social barriers.

Objective

The main objective of SUREWAVE is to develop and test an innovative concept of Floating Photo-Voltaic (FPV) system consisting of an external floating breakwater structure made of new circular materials acting as a protection against severe wave loads on the FPV structure itself, allowing increased operational availability and energy output.