Floating offshore solar power could play a growing role in Europe’s energy mix by the end of the decade, with new projects under development and industry leaders calling for greater regulatory and financial backing to accelerate deployment.
Speaking at the Seanergy conference, Francesco Melandri, an energy engineer at Italian developer Agnes, said the company’s Agnes Romagna 1 project—planned off the coast of Lido di Classe in the Emilia Romagna region—remains on track for construction by 2030.
The project includes a 200-megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm alongside a 100MW floating solar installation. A final decision on the technology platform for the floating solar component has yet to be made, and discussions are ongoing with the Italian government regarding tariff support.
“We will work with the government to create a framework [of support] as it is not economically sustainable at the moment,” said Melandri. “Our goal is to increase the tariff.”
Despite the commercial challenges, Melandri said he sees long-term potential for hybrid offshore energy systems. “Solar farms as part of offshore wind projects can be a hybrid solution,” he said. “During the summer solar power can be produced when wind speeds are lower. Some studies have reported that putting solar in an offshore wind farm can cut curtailment by 2%.”
While Italy is pursuing early-stage development, Melandri identified the Netherlands and the broader North Sea region as key areas for floating solar growth, due to more advanced policy frameworks and technological readiness.
Aurélien Croq, chief executive of French floating solar company SolarinBlue, echoed that view. He noted that while northern Europe is leading market expansion, Mediterranean countries like Italy and Malta are also considering feed-in tariffs to support the technology’s scale-up.
SolarinBlue inaugurated its first offshore photovoltaic installation—Sun’Sète—off the coast of France in March 2023. The demonstration project includes two floating solar units with a total capacity of 20 kilowatt-peak (kWp). According to Croq, the system performs 6% better than rooftop photovoltaic installations.
The company is now developing the Mega Sète pre-commercial demonstrator, a 1MWp project expected to be commissioned later this year.
Croq said the sector is in its early stages and requires stronger policy support to advance. “We’re at the beginning of the story,” he said. “Now we need to push harder and go for bigger projects.” He urged national governments to provide additional incentives to help floating solar “scale up faster.
