SolarDuck strengthens Asia Pacific foothold with expansion of Tokyo office

Dutch-Norwegian company SolarDuck has expanded its regional office in Tokyo, Japan, to better devote to the Japanese market and accelerate the commercialization of its floating solar technology. 

The regional office will manage business development across the Asia Pacific region. With the offshore energy industry growing, East Asia and Southeast Asia present growth opportunities, especially for offshore floating photovoltaic (OFPV) projects and SolarDuck.

“Asia Pacific is a GigaWatt scale opportunity, and we are committed to trailblazing the growth path for OFPV in the region. We have the technology; we have the footprint, and we are shaping the team to deliver on this vision”, said Olaf de Swart, Co-founder of SolarDuck and Head of BD Asia Pacific.

After the company installed what is said to be Japan’s first offshore floating solar photovoltaic (OFSPV) power plant on the sea surface, the company wants to start ‘building on success’ and invest hiring efforts to support the expansion in the region, said SolarDuck.

The Teal demonstrator was installed in Tokyo Bay as part of a project with Tokyu Land Corporation and Kyocera Communication Systems, initiated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The Tokyo Bay eSG Project, led by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Policy Planning Bureau, aims to establish the world’s energy generation and transmission from the Tokyo Bay Area. This project is a demonstration initiative by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Aside from Japan, SolarDuck is also working closely with TNB on a project under development offshore Tioman Island, taking its first steps into Malaysian territory. 

“The SolarDuck technology has great potential in Japan and the region. We have been proud to be collaborating with SolarDuck on establishing the first OFPV plant in Japan and we look forward continuing our relationship”, said So Watanabe, Deputy Manager at Tokyu Land Corporation.

Recently, Solar Duck, in collaboration with the Nautical SUNRISE consortium and supported by €6.8 million from the Horizon Europe program, initiated the development of the world’s largest offshore floating solar power installation, a 5 MW system integrated with RWE’s OranjeWind wind farm off the coast of The Netherlands.