Floating Offshore Photovoltaic systems

Project Information

FLOTA

Grant agreement ID: 652490

DOI

10.3030/652490

Project closed

EC signature date 27 October 2014

Start date 1 November 2014

End date 30 April 2015

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

active innovation management
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FLOTA (Floating Offshore Photovoltaic systems)

Reporting period: 2014-11-01 to 2015-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The innovation project consists in a system of floating photovoltaic panels for the decentralized generation and stocking of energy at offshore/near shore sea applications. The most mature target identified is, among many, fish farming activity (and more generally sea activities with necessity of electricity). Thanks to its simple and functional design and its uniqueness, the earliest commercialization stage is planned for the third quarter of 2016.
In order to launch the development phase, a feasibility study has been realised supported by SME Instrument Phase 1 Grant.
Goals of this feasibility study are to finalize the business plan for the development of a spin-off fully dedicated to sea advanced systems, the finalization of specific design activities on the system tackling the remaining technical risks and the creation of a small scale demonstrator that will be the key element of the dissemination for this system. The location of the demostrator, inside Provence Aquaculture site in Isle du Frioul is particularly interesting because is part of a national park, with many visitors and classes of students, therefore this site would bring also a positive impulse to sustainability culture. This system consists in an integration of a classic fish cage with floating PV modules capable to provide energy for electric powered boats, fish feeding, water cleaning, lighting etc.
Valuable coaching has been provided by the action,
the company would like to develop further the innovation creating a dedicated companys with other partners and the outcome of this faisability study is evaluated 9/10

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

This feasibility study has been realized between Nov 1st 2014 and May 2015, with the following accomplishments as listed in Application form for phase 1:
Task 1: design of the system for the application in Provence Aquaculture Fish Farm with updated floater with finalized material
The design has been updated for the inclusion in a fish cage and optimized for a better interaction with fisherman activities. For this specific point please refer to the technical annex inside the core document 8/10
Task 2: design of an improved and innovative wet disconnection system (to be patented in 2015), prototyping and testing
The innovative connector has been developed and some 3D prototypes are currently under development. The patent is currently under filing. For this specific point please refer to the technical annex inside the core document 8/10
Task 3: assembling the small size demonstrator (1,5 Kwp) in Provence Aquaculture site (Ile du Frioul) and verification
The demonstrator has been installed end April-beginning May 2015, in Provence Aquaculture site near Marseille. The system is composed of a 8 m diameter fish cage, provided by the company Badinotti in which is installed a mesh of 6 floater including polycrystalline PV panel for a peak Power of 1,5 kWp. 9/10
Task 4: Business model update and finalization of business strategy, plan and budget. This activity has been realized with the support of coaching action from H2020 program, with the participation of experts from French Competitiveness Pole Polemer Mediterranée. An abstract of the document is provided in the core document 8/10

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The need of cleaner fish production and sustainable use of sea resources is clear, FLOTA system is an answer to this problem providing autonomous, cost efficient and environmentally friendly energy production at offshore fish farms.
The main benefit is the cost saving thanks to the substitution of diesel engine generators by electricity from PV, as well as a reduced environmental footprint. Moreover, in case of larger scale applications, the fish farm area could also be exploited for energy generation purposes sharing existing facilities.
The socio-economical impact is potentially very high, opening opportunities of lower carbon impact and sustainability, better revenues and new jobs related to a different exploitation of offshore fish farms and more generally island communities.
The potential turnover for the next 3 years would be the following:
25 EFT employees
In 2016 200 k€ ( business start)
ESTIMATION for aquaculture +renewable energy market -TURNOVER from 2017
Low A share of the floating PV market of 10%:
0.9 to 2.9 MWp From 1.8 to 5.8 M€ From 2.2 to 6.6 M€ per year
Medium A share of the floating PV market of 25%:
2.25 to 7.25 MWp From 4.5 to 14.5 M€ From 5.2 to 16.4 M€ per year
High A share of the floating PV market of 50%:
4.5 to 14.5 MWp From 9 to 29 M€ From 10.3 to 32 M€ per year

flota 1,5 kWp demostrator installed in Provaqua fish farm

closer view of the demostrator before fishing net installation