Recording of Tuesday, June 18, 2024 | The smarter E Europe | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 12:42 .

Global Floating PV Market Sees Significant Growth, Reaching 7 GW Milestone Led by Asian Markets and Emerging Hybrid Projects

In this session, Stanislas Merlet from Multiconsult provides an overview of the global floating solar PV market. He highlights that although post-lunch sessions might not be the most productive, it's essential to stay engaged. With a background in PV since 2008, working for Norway’s engineering consultancy firm Multiconsult—known for its extensive work in renewable energy including floating solar PV—Merlet shares key insights. Multiconsult's history is rooted in Norwegian hydropower with over a century of operation and significant activity across Africa for more than five decades. Floating Solar PV has experienced substantial growth over the past decade, reaching 7 gigawatts globally by 2023—a mere 0.4% of total installed capacity but indicative of potential expansion. Asia dominates this segment with China leading followed by Japan, South Korea, and several Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia and Vietnam. Europe accounts for about 7%, driven mainly by developments in the Netherlands (50%) and France (20%). The Middle East & Africa contribute around 5%, notably Israel. Technologically speaking, float-to-float connections still dominate at over 70% global capacity primarily due to large projects in Asia and China specifically starting around mid-2010s. Recent trends point towards larger projects outside China like Indonesia's Sirata project (192 MW peak) highlighting hybrid models combining hydropower reservoirs with floating PV systems becoming prominent globally—from Portugal to various parts of Asia—and even combinations involving offshore wind are emerging strongly particularly spearheaded within Europe exemplified by Italy’s upcoming development efforts combining both resources effectively making headway into integrated renewable solutions worldwide.

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Speaker

Stanislas Merlet
Senior Consultant Solar PV
Multiconsult
Norway

Talk of session: Floating Solar Power: Preparing for the Next Growth Level Onshore & Offshore

Floating photovoltaics (FPV) is an established alternative PV power plant application for regions with space constraints and for bodies of water that need protection from pollution and evaporation. The total FPV onshore deployment is expected to reach a double-digit GW output soon. That is why the industry is turning its attention to the vast potential of offshore installations. Despite considerable technical progress, much still remains to be done - from standardization, cost reduction, to environmental assessments and social acceptance - before FPV becomes widely accepted.

The session will discuss:

• Market & technology developments
• On and offshore case studies
• Biodiversity research results
• Yield and cost comparison FPV vs. traditional PV power plants

Further Talks of this session:

Welcome and Introduction

Speaker

Michele Tagliapietra
Head of Product Management Floating-PV
BayWa r.e.
Belgium

To Talk

Best Practice & Standards

Speaker

Jasper Lemmens
Senior Consultant
DNV Netherlands B.V.
The Netherlands

To Talk

Yield, Performance & Cost Analysis of FPV Projects

Speaker

Dr. Anna Heimsath
Head of Department "Analysis PV Modules and Power Plants"
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE
Germany

To Talk

Floating Solar & Its Environmental Impacts: New Research and Results From Operational Projects

Speaker

Michele Tagliapietra
Head of Product Management Floating-PV
BayWa r.e.
Belgium

To Talk

What Offshore Floating Solar Can Learn From Offshore Wind

Speaker

Dr. Benjamin Lehner
CEO
Dutch Marine Energy Centre
The Netherlands

To Talk

Q&A

To Talk