Equinor working with Moss Maritime to start testing floating solar in the ocean off the island of Froya, off Trondheim in Norway.
The partnership will build the floating solar pilot plant in the late summer of 2021, making it the first of its kind to be situated in rough waters.
“If we succeed here, we can succeed anywhere,” says Hanne Wigum, Equinor wind and solar technology unit head.
The municipality of Froya has been positive to and is involved in the planning of the pilot plant, Equinor said.
The offshore wind developer has filed an application with the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate.
The floating solar pilot plant will measure 80 metres squared and its highest point will be no more than three metres above the sea surface.
The pilot plant will be tested for minimum one year.
The aim is to see how the weather conditions affect the plant, as opposed to see how much energy is produced.
Wigum said: “The municipality of Froya has been a good collaboration partner for us.
“We have reached an agreement with the grid owner, allowing the electricity that is produced to enter the power grid on Froya.
“In addition, the nearness to our research centre in Trondheim, and the expertise possessed by the Sintef and NTNU research institutions, represent an advantage for us.”
Froya mayor Kristin Furunes Stromskag added: “It is very exciting that Froya has been chosen as the host municipality for the testing of new renewable energy sources, such as solar power.
“With our natural conditions, we are a good location for a full-scale pilot plant within research and development.”
Moss Maritime, which has worked on the concept for the past three years, said the pilot plant will be an important step on the road towards technology commercialisation, and important for further development and optimisation of the concept.
Other floating solar projects Equinor is involved in include a project off Sri Lanka, located in calm waters, focused on optimising output.
Equinor is also involved in a project in the Netherlands, comprising three different floating solar power concepts being tested on a lake, to provide knowledge about the resilience and predictability of production under rougher conditions than in other current production sites for floating solar power.