A consortium from The Netherlands announced it will facilitate the construction of the largest Offshore Floating Solar (OFS) power plant in the world.

The Nautical SUNRISE project is formed by a collaboration of players in the solar and offshore renewables industries, led by the Dutch Marine Energy Centre. The EU-backed project will facilitate research and construction of offshore solar energy to test and showcase the system’s viability.

The project aims to build a 5 MW OFS plant integrated within the RWE’s OranjeWind wind farm off the west coast of The Netherlands. The system will be developed by Dutch-Norwegian floating solar company SolarDuck.

The €8,4 million project will begin with research and testing in order to ensure the reliability, electrical stability and yield of OFS systems before construction takes place at Oranjewind.

“We are excited to coordinate the Nautical SUNRISE project as one of the flagship initiatives of offshore solar in Europe. Not only do we have the chance to address important knowledge gaps around the design and environmental impact of offshore solar. Together with RWE and the OranjeWind consortium we can do so in full alignment and integration with a commercial offshore wind park,” said Simon Stark, CTO of the Dutch Marine Energy Centre.