New project combines wind and solar energy in Belgian North Sea

The technology for floating photovoltaics has made great progress in recent years. Systems for lakes and reservoirs are being rolled out at gigawatt scale worldwide. Several approaches have been developed for offshore use, and a first number of demonstrators are being installed for this innovative technology. 

Owing to the harsh environment with its strong waves, wind, and risks of corrosion and fouling, this requires an entirely new structural development. Covering an area of less than 10% of a wind farm, PV systems with a nominal power approximately matching that of the wind turbines can be connected sharing the same grid connection, which helps reduce costs. 

The exact limits and curtailment losses have to be worked out by detailed analysis. A major beneficial factor is the complementarity of electricity generation between wind and solar throughout the year, as both energy sources are most productive at different times of the day and the year. There is a lot of wind in autumn and winter, and a lot of sun in spring and summer.

The SWiM project, which stands for Solar and Wind in the Belgian Marine Zone, is funded by the Belgian Energy Transition Fund of the Federal Public Service of the Economy and strives to draw up technical guidelines and policy recommendations towards multi-use of commercial zones at sea in so-called Mariparks.

In this concept, different technologies will be combined taking into account the possible effects of these parks on the marine environment, with effective and efficient integration of electricity generation by offshore wind and photovoltaics playing a key role. 

The results will be disseminated broadly to serve as a basis for decisions of commercial players and authorities alike.

• The strengths and weaknesses of existing structures will be analysed, and options for their placement within wind farms and ecological effects will be mapped out.  The rules for deployment within wind farms need to be refined to consider different requirements and the interests of all users. Stakeholders will be consulted to work out rules that are safe and effective.
• The electrical performance of the PV sysem will be modelled in detail based on an existing framework for simulating energy yields. Specific measures will be identified to ensure reliability of components in harsh offshore conditions.  
• The detailed limits are determined by the thermal load of cables, and corresponding models will be refined to ensure best scaling while maintaining safe operating conditions.
• Apart from the dimensions, the anchoring and mooring design determines to a large extent how the space at sea can best be used. This is complemented by requirements for safety distances and dedicated spaces for other uses. . In addition, biological effects need to be taken into account.  
• A distinct goal of the project is to draw up policy advice and have an impact on marine spatial planning and permission rules. A series of workshops will therefore be held where stakeholders from all relevant areas can provide input. The project thus aims to develop guidelines that allow effective and safe co-use of the marine area designated for commercial purposes.

The project brings together six research, policy and industry partners:

• Laborelec has broad expertise in renewables and electrical systems and infrastructure, including offshore wind, solar energy, energy storage, power conversion systems and electric cable testing. The renewables team has been conducting internal research projects - sponsored by ENGIE Research&Innovation - on offshore wind and floating PV for several years, is responsible for monitoring the Seavolt pilot and already studied the potential integration of offshore floating photovotaic panels (OFPV) into a Dutch wind farm. 
• With a sustainable blue economy as its core business, Blue Cluster has built up considerable expertise in (international) marine policy and gives advice to policy makers based on the experience of innovative technologies in its projects. We are involved in various innovative projects dealing with multi-use of marine spaces as well as Marine Spatial Planning, and provide a strong link to the business community. 
• The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) possesses significant expertise in marine ecology, covering hydrodynamic and biogeochemical modelling, experimental work, and field studies. This positions them well for the quantification of environmental impacts related to OFPV, and anthropogenic activity at seas more generally. The competencies on these topics were established in several previous research projects. 
• Imec/EnergyVille runs and develops a physics-based energy yield modelling framework allowing to calculate the energy yield of several integrated PV applications as a function of environmental conditions and installation constraints. By extending a model established in the MarineSPOTS project, the energy system will build further on degradation models for PV systems under different stressors, which can be refined with the unique environment of OFPV.
• UHasselt / EnergyVille has broad expertise in the domain of energy systems reliability within the department imo-imomec, in collaboration with imec. In previous projects, this research group worked on reliability modelling and testing of solar modules and power electronic systems under different thermal, mechanical and electrical stresses, as well as PV system design, in-situ sensing and energy optimisation. 
• On top of existing broad know-how in marine structural design, KU Leuven / EnergyVille has gained significant expertise in OFPV over the past two years, not least through the MarineSPOTS ETF project. The electrical backbone of renewable energy systems, both in terms of power electronic converters and power system integration, forms part of their background, as   do grid design and market aspects

In addition, the project will be guided by an Advisory Board with ten industry members active in the marine space and renewable energies. 

This project is funded by the Energy Transition Fund of the FPS Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy.