Dutch-Norwegian offshore floating solar (OFS) firm SolarDuck has been chosen to provide OFS technology with integrated energy storage solutions for the Hollandse Kust-West (HKW) VII hybrid offshore wind and OFS project.
As part of the project SolarDuck will build a 5MW demonstrator, which the company claims will be the “world’s largest” OFS power plant delivered at scale. Building the demonstrator will drive the company further towards the commercialisation of its technology at grid scale, while also scaling up OFS manufacturing, assembly and installation.
“This is a flagship project for SolarDuck and an important milestone for the wider OFS industry,” said Koen Burgers, SolarDuck’s CEO. “SolarDuck, being the first to build a hybrid project at this scale, will demonstrate the robustness of our solution, prove the important role of system integration in building future-fit energy systems, and enable the scaling of the technology to accelerate its adoption. We are proud to work together with our partner RWE in this important project.”
The HKW VII wind farm is one of two wind farms to become operational by 2026 with a capacity of 700MW, located just over 28 nautical miles off the west coast of the Netherlands.
Ultimately, the project aims to inform and explore the complementary benefits of wind and solar resources, as well as make better use of existing infrastructure. The company believes the project will drive the growth of hybrid OFS projects around the world which could help to decarbonise the planet, particularly in sunny regions where land is scarce.
