Norsk Hydro ASA concluded a busy week by signing a letter of intent with offshore floating solar energy technology developer SolarDuck, TNB Renewables Sdn Bhd, and TNB Research Sdn Bhdon Friday to work together on a project that is intended to improve offshore solar energy technology.
The project will consist of a 780 kW floating offshore solar plant located off the coast of Malaysia’s Tioman Island. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2025.
Norsk Hydro said its contribution to the project will involve manufacturing and delivering aluminium components for the installation. The firm provided aluminium profiles for the pilot structure in 2021. Components for the current contract will emanate from Hydro’s extrusion plants in Lichtervelde, Belgium, and Magnor, Norway.
In a press release, Bruno D’hondt, senior vice president in Hydro Extrusions noted the benefits that the project will have to renewable energy.
“Solar energy is part of the necessary shift to renewable energy. Extruded aluminium solutions are the perfect fit for such installations with their light weight and strength, and the fact that they require little or no maintenance.”
SolarDuck’s chief executive Koen Burgers noted the advantages of using aluminium in the project.
“Aluminium is our material of choice because of its strength to weight ratio and ability to withstand the corrosive offshore environment for the lifetime of the structure.”
He went on to say that offshore floating solutions are likely to become the most affordable marine energy technology by the beginning of the next decade. As Southeast Asia does not have significant potential for wind energy and a lack of usable land, projects seeking to capture renewable energy are likely to find the most success offshore and utilizing solar power.
TNB Renewables Sdn Bhd and TNB Research Sdn Bhd are subsidiaries of the Malaysian electricity utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).