Survivability assessment, cost redUction pathways and eNvironmental evaluation of offshoRe Installed floating Solar energy farms

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Europe is currently in a transition away from its dependency on Russian gas towards a fully renewable, reliable, and low-cost energy system by 2050. To achieve this target, large-scale renewable energy projects are essential. However, the transition is limited by several factors such as onshore space availability to deploy GW-scale projects, supply chain disruptions, and concerns from various stakeholders around visual pollution and space use. Offshore floating PV (OFPV) can deliver hundreds of GWs in Europe by 2050 while resolving above challenges. In areas with a fast-expanding offshore wind sector (e.g. North Sea), OFPV can be combined with wind inside multi source farms. This enables the extraction of up to 9x more energy per km2 and better utilization of the infrastructure due to 10-20% more full-load hours, while leaving space for other stakeholders as fewer wind parks and electrical infrastructure are needed for the same amount of electricity production. In parts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea with low wind resources, also stand-alone OFPV can help to achieve high penetration of renewable energy. Nautical SUNRISE will remove the last barriers of OFPV to deliver these benefits. A 5 MW grid-connected, multi-year offshore demonstration of a highly competitive OFPV system and its components inside a commercial wind farm will provide the trust needed for the upscaling of the technology. Prior to the demonstration, itstechnical reliability will be validated in the most extreme conditions through laboratory measurements, wave-wind tank tests, and modelling studies. The cost reduction achieved through design improvements will be quantified in concrete business cases and should enable an LCOE of <148 €/ MWh, making OFPV financially viable. Additionally, the measurement campaign at the OFPV demonstration, large-scale environmental modelling, and life-cycle assessment including circularity will help to understand the overall effect on the environment.