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European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency
  • Project

FreShER

Floating Solar Energy mooRing: Innovative mooring solutions for floating solar energy

floating solar park

Floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) installations open new opportunities for scaling up solar energy generating capacity, especially in countries with high population density and lack of available land. FreShER project demonstrated an innovative mooring solution in a full-scale FPV park, 63% more cost efficient compared to standard solutions and directly contributing to the EU clean energy transition.

Coordinated by SEAFLEX, a long-experienced provider of elastic mooring solutions, FreShER is an industry-driven innovation and demonstration project closely linked to the demand of the end-customers. Its demonstration site is located in Portugal, in the Alqueva Dam. 

With their innovative solution, FreShER project partners aimed at making the FPV parks more sustainable with eased manufacturing and installation, as well as lower transport and maintenance needs. Their objective was also to increase the knowledge of motions and loads on the moorings of a floating solar park, weather impact, maintenance requirements, and so on. This will enable further improvements of the moorings and anchoring of FPV parks and extend its application to near-shore installations.

The project resulted in a fully functional FPV park with optimised cost-efficiency and functionality, thanks to the validation of its methodology and equipment. It served as a source of valuable recommendations to the growing FPV market, in particular for the optimisation of the design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance of floating solar installations.

According to recent studies, due to the cooling effect of water, the efficiency of FPV parks can increase by up to 18% compared to ground-mounted solar systems. Moreover, floating platforms create a shadow effect on the water surface, reducing the heating and evaporation of water. Preventing the evaporation of water can be of highest importance in irrigation dams and similar locations. In many cases, floating PV systems are installed on dams, water reservoirs and other unused areas of water, converting these unused spaces into profitable areas while preserving valuable land for agriculture or other uses.

Do not miss the Clean Ocean Energy Technologies video prepared in the framework of the EMFF young ambassador project where FreShER project is featured. Learn more on their innovative mooring solution. You can also watch the recording of the final webinar where they presented the results of the project.

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