Dutch startup to build floating solar array at North Sea wind farm

A Dutch startup has been awarded a contract to install floating solar panels at an offshore wind farm in the North Sea. 

Oceans of Energy secured the contract from CrossWind, a joint venture between Shell and Eneco. The renewable energy startup has been tasked with building a 0.5MW floating array between wind turbines at the 750MW Hollands Kust Noord wind farm, located 18.5km off the coast of the Netherlands.  

According to the startup, which was founded in 2016 by Dutch engineer and entrepreneur Allard van Hoeken, this would be the first offshore solar farm in the world to be connected, installed, and operated within a wind farm in “high-wave conditions”.

The solar panels will be situated in between the offshore wind turbines, providing backup power on sunnier but less windy days. The panels will be moored to the wind turbines and connected to the same cables, transporting energy efficiently to end users. 

Van Hoeken says the project “will function as an example for combined offshore wind and solar parks in the future.”

The solar array will provide energy for around 500 households once it links up to the Dutch electric grid in 2025, two years after the wind farm comes online.  

Until now the startup has mainly relied on subsidies from the Dutch government, of which it has raised €20m to date. Financial details of the new contract with CrossWind, however, were not disclosed.  

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