Engie subsidiary develops new offshore floating PV tech for ‘harsh marine conditions’

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
A rendering of the technology. Combining offshore floating solar with offshore wind sites has the potential to add large volumes of additional renewable capacity, Tractebel said. Image: Tractebel.

Tractebel – a subsidiary of French utility Engie – has developed a new offshore floating solar technology in partnership with offshore energy specialists DEME and maritime infrastructure firm Jan De Nul.

The tech – dubbed SEAVOLT – is designed to withstand harsh marine conditions, the companies said, with a modular design that makes it easily adaptable to different sites and demands. Based on images from the partners, the technology proposes to raise a bank of solar modules above the waves atop a substantial floating metal structure. A patent for the technology is still pending.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

In collaboration with researchers from Ghent University, the partnership is currently developing a test site to be deployed off the Belgian coast in Summer 2023. They are also launching parallel schemes focusing on the environment, ecosystem and cost-effectiveness with funding from the Energy Transition Fund and Federal Relaunch Fund in Belgium.

Tractebel said that SEAVOLT has the potential to be paired with offshore wind installations, opening up significantly more potentially deployable renewables capacity. Where local authorities allow for multi-use concessions, the potential exists to deploy large capacities in short order. Offshore solar also offers an attractive solution in countries where land use is a growing issue for developers.

“In the same way that we have seen wind technology moving from land to the sea, we are seeing the extension of the whole energy system towards offshore locations,” said Philippe Van Troeye, Tractebel CEO.

“We believe offshore floating PV has an important role to play in the acceleration of the energy transition. While this technology is still in its infancy, we are convinced that with such strong partners on board we are giving SEAVOLT all possible chances to succeed.”

In January, PV Tech Premium spoke with Oceans of Energy, a company developing offshore floating PV technology in sites off the Netherlands, about the road to commercialising the technology from a research to a deployment stage.

26 November 2024
Málaga, Spain
Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2025. PV ModuleTech Europe 2024 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.
11 March 2025
Frankfurt, Germany
The conference will gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing out to 2030 and beyond.
3 June 2025
Messe Stuttgart Stuttgart, Germany
Meet battery manufacturers, suppliers, engineers, thought leaders and decision-makers for a conference and battery tech expo focused on the latest developments in the advanced battery and automotive industries. Stay plugged in for all the latest information on The Battery Show Europe 2024 including: Keynote Speakers & Conference Overview Show Features Floor Plan & Exhibitor News Travel & Transport information
17 June 2025
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 17-18 June 2025, will be our fourth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2026 and beyond.

Read Next

Premium
November 13, 2024
PV Talk: ISC Konstanz co-founder Radovan Kopecek discusses his belief in bifacial back contact technology as the 'ultimate' c-Si product and why perovskite will not power the energy transition.
November 13, 2024
Lithuanian lawmakers have adopted legislation designed to limit the ability of Chinese inverter manufacturers to remotely access the country’s solar and wind power plants.
November 13, 2024
The government of New South Wales, Australia, has released a new planning framework for large-scale renewable energy developments aiming to streamline planning decisions.
November 13, 2024
Iberdrola Australia, a sub-division of utility giant Iberdrola, has secured power purchase agreements (PPAs) with 13 regional councils in New South Wales that will see part of the energy sourced from a large-scale solar PV power plant.
November 12, 2024
Australia’s Clean Energy Council (CEC) has found that over 1.4GW of large-scale renewable energy generation projects worth over AU$3.3 billion (US$2.61 billion) were committed to in the third quarter of 2024.
November 12, 2024
Greater policy support will be needed if the world is to meet its 2030 renewable energy targets, according to Ember Climate.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events, Upcoming Webinars
November 13, 2024
4pm GMT / 8am PST
Solar Media Events
November 19, 2024
Philadelphia, USA
Solar Media Events
November 20, 2024
Zhuhai, China
Solar Media Events
November 21, 2024
London, UK
Solar Media Events
November 26, 2024
Málaga, Spain