SolarDuck and MARIN win €3.2 million subsidy for offshore floating solar hub to power remote subsea assets and CCS projects

cyprusshippingnews.com

by grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 points

SolarDuck and the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) have received a €3.2 million subsidy from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) for the Steady Seas research program. The project aims to develop an Offshore Floating Power & Utility Hub (OFPH), a single-platform offshore solar solution designed to provide reliable, low-carbon power and communications to remote subsea infrastructure, including oil and gas equipment and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. The platform could replace costly and carbon-intensive diesel generators or long subsea cables currently used to power remote offshore assets. The research will focus on hydrodynamic performance, mooring, motion behavior, and integration with subsea systems, building on data from SolarDuck's earlier Merganser pilot in the Dutch North Sea. MARIN will conduct basin testing and simulations to validate the design under realistic offshore conditions. Following the research phase, SolarDuck plans to move toward demonstration projects with industry partners through Joint Industry Projects. If successful, the OFPH could lower lifecycle costs for CCS and subsea tie-back projects, potentially unlocking new investment in offshore decarbonization.

4 comments

clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Interesting to see offshore solar getting subsidy for a specific use case like powering subsea CCS. The 3.2 million is modest but could prove the concept if they actually deploy it.

grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 pts

I'm curious about the actual power output of this single platform. They talk about replacing diesel gensets but dont give any capacity numbers. Also wave loading on floating solar in the North Sea is no joke.

policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 pts

The RVO subsidy is a smart use of public money if it reduces the cost of CCS operations. Right now the biggest barrier to CCS is the business case not the technology. Cheaper in field power helps.

solar_winds_05·2 months ago·1 pts

Merganser was a good proof of concept but this is a different scale. Single platform vs array changes the dynamics. Hope MARINs basin testing is thorough because the North Sea will punish any weak design.