Floating solar photovoltaic energy for coastal areas: A siting methodology

The decision-making process at the early stages of marine renewable energy projects typically faces considerable uncertainties. Amongst them, identifying the most suitable cost-effective locations is a key aspect, for which several novel indices have been proposed recently. In the case of floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) energy, a nascent technology, efforts have focused on offshore sites, possibly to the detriment of nearshore options of high interest such as estuaries. Granted, coastal areas present specific challenges, not least their high environmental value and the coexistence of many uses of the marine space, the compatibility of which ought to be accurately assessed. In this work, the Integrated Floating Solar Energy (IFSE) index is proposed for siting FPV farms in coastal areas. This novel index is based on a comprehensive methodology, which considers the aspects relevant to the decision-making process: (i) the exploitable resource, (ii) the costs of installation, and (iii) the socioeconomic and environmental aspects. The IFSE index is applied to a case study in the Ría de Vigo, an estuary in NW Spain, leading to the delimitation of an area of about 7 km² as that with the highest interest, and showing the capability of this index to significantly contribute to the decision-making process for the deployment of FPV farms in coastal areas.