Equinor test floating solar energy in Norway

The plan is to build a floating pilot plant off Frøya, near Trondheim, in the late summer of 2021. It is set to become the world’s first pilot plant for floating solar power in rough waters.

The municipality of Frøya has responded positively to and is involved in the planning of the pilot plant. Equinor has filed an application with the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate. Planned to measure 80 m x 80 m, the plant will tower less than 3 m over the sea surface. According to plans, the pilot will be tested for minimum one year. The project is a collaboration between Equinor and the technology company Moss Maritime.

Testing resilience

The purpose of the pilot plant is not primarily to see how much energy it can produce, but how the weather conditions affect the plant. The Norwegian coast and continental shelf are world-class when it comes to oil, gas and wind, but when it comes to sun, other regions offer better conditions. As a test area, Frøya is still very suitable.

The pilot plant will be an important milestone for Moss Maritime as well.

“We have been working on this concept for the past three years, most recently through our partnership with Equinor, and the concept has been substantially matured, both technically and economically. The floating pilot plant will be an important step on the road towards technology commercialisation, and an important arena for further development and optimisation of the concept,” says Alexander Thøgersen, Vice President, Engineering, Moss Maritime.

Rapid development

This is the third research project that Equinor is involved in. Equinor is already involved in a project off Sri Lanka. Here, a concept in calm waters is being tested to decide how to produce as much energy as possible.

In addition, Equinor is involved in a project in the Netherlands. Here, three different floating solar power concepts are being tested on a lake. This provides important knowledge about the resilience and predictability of production under rougher conditions than in other current production sites for floating solar power.

Equinor has not made any decision on the production of power from floating photovoltaic panels, besides the research projects.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/special-reports/15012021/equinor-test-floating-solar-energy/