Recording of Tuesday, June 18, 2024 | The smarter E Europe | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 13:49 .

Exploring the Future of Offshore Solar Energy and Its Challenges: Dr. Benjamin Lehner Reviews Dutch Marine Energy Centre’s Groundbreaking Projects

The context provided is a presentation by Dr. Benjamin Lehner, discussing the potential and challenges of offshore solar energy. He sets the stage with an evocative description of sailing towards Athens to illustrate the massive energy needs of coastal mega-cities like Tokyo, Shanghai, Barcelona, and The Hague. As part of DMEC (an accelerator for offshore renewable energy), Dr. Lehner explains current projects: EU-SCORES off Belgium’s coast and NauticalSunrise near Hollandse Kust Vest Wind Tender in collaboration with RWE and SolarDuck. These initiatives aim to integrate offshore solar with wind power due to high grid connection costs. Offshore solar faces significant technical challenges such as surviving severe weather conditions (e.g., 5-7 meter waves and strong winds) which necessitate robust systems that can withstand these forces while maintaining electrical infrastructure integrity. Issues like soiling from seabirds also pose additional hurdles. Despite these challenges, Cushman highlights key advantages including scalability—installing gigawatts over square kilometers—and complementarity with existing offshore wind infrastructures without major modifications or visual impacts on coastal landscapes.

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Speaker

Dr. Benjamin Lehner
CEO
Dutch Marine Energy Centre
The Netherlands

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

FPV Market Overview & Technology Update

Speaker

Stanislas Merlet
Senior Consultant Solar PV
Multiconsult
Norway

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

Q&A

To Talk