€15M boost to help SolarDuck deliver its first commercial floating solar projects

Business & Finance

December 21, 2023, by Nadja Skopljak

Dutch-Norwegian company SolarDuck has secured €15 million in funding for the further development and deployment of offshore floating solar power technology.

Photo credit: Frank Brandwijk/ SolarDuck

According to SolarDuck, this funding sets the company on a path of continued growth, to deliver its first commercial projects and increase its impact as it works towards its goal of deploying over 1 GW of offshore generated solar electricity by 2030.

The funding has been provided by both existing and new investors, with an international consortium of Katapult Ocean, Green Tower, Energy Transition Fund Rotterdam and Invest-NL supporting SolarDuck’s commitment to accelerating a sustainable supply of offshore energy with offshore floating solar power.

This project is aligned with the EU Renewable Energy directive and the Blue Growth strategy.

“We are delighted to have secured this latest round of funding. SolarDuck is introducing a new asset class of energy generation. With demand increasing, offshore floating solar offers real promise for the decarbonisation of our energy supply. This successful funding round provides us with the means to continue the development and deployment of both our Team and technology,” said Koen Burgers, CEO and Co-founder of SolarDuck.

SolarDuck has a pipeline of over 3.5GWp. Amongst other projects, work is being done on a 5 MW demonstrator project to be installed at the Hollandse Kust West VII offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea in collaboration with RWE, which, when completed, will be the largest hybrid floating solar plant in existence.

In addition, the company is providing Japan’s first-ever offshore floating solar plant, to be installed in Tokyo Bay with local partners. A third project is underway with TNB Renewables in Malaysia.

Ahead of these projects, SolarDuck plans to launch its Merganser offshore demonstrator project early next year, which will be installed and tested in the Dutch North Sea.

“We are very excited to announce our increased investment in SolarDuck and to support their next phase of growth. In order to harness the blue growth opportunity, we must also endeavour to build offshore. SolarDuck represents a new category of ocean infrastructure, which has the potential to unlock significant resources towards the global renewable energy mix and to enable enhanced economics to existing offshore renewable assets,” said Jonas Svegaarden, CEO of Katapult Ocean which has been on board since the beginning of SolarDuck.