The University of Malta has teamed up with its offshore energy storage spin-off FLASC to assess the potential of integrating renewable energy and energy storage solutions with floating breakwaters.
The project, dubbed FORTRESS , which is being funded by the Malta Energy and Water Agency, will enable breakwaters to serve the dual role of supporting renewables such as floating solar by creating sheltered water areas to mitigate challenges in rough weather, while providing long duration energy storage services .
With increased offshore activity, floating breakwaters are becoming the preferred alternative in deep waters since bottom-fixed, conventional arrangements are typically limited to shallow waters.
The floating systems may also be installed at sites having poor seabed conditions as their installation and operation are highly independent of the seafloor characteristics.
Furthermore, floating breakwater structures have the ability to attenuate waves without affecting benthic flora and fauna, blocking water flow, currents, sediment movement and fish migration.
The FORTRESS project is currently simulating the operation of the FLASC energy storage system integrated into a floating breakwater when smoothing the intermittent supply of renewable energy from co-located offshore wind turbines and floating solar platforms .
Despite numerous technologies already deployed close to shores and in marinas which are used to protect against shoreline erosion and ease sea berthing activities, floating breakwaters of large scale deployed farther away from the landmass have not yet been proven on a commercial scale.
Doctoral researcher Charise Cutajar explained that the project FORTRESS seeks to address the present knowledge gap with regards to floating breakwaters behavioral characteristics in deep seas, while aiming to improve their viability through the integration of energy storage.
Alongside the geometry of the breakwater, the mooring system has also been identified as a critical factor that determines the wave attenuating capability of the floating structure.
“Statistical analyses and numerical modelling of the storage system with real intermittent power data have allowed us to predict and gain a better understanding of how to efficiently size the storage system when amalgamated within a floating breakwater’s design.
“Understanding the trade-off between storage system capacity and energy availability has provided a good foundation for our next step – that of analyzing the economic feasibility of the project as a whole,” said doctoral researcher Andrew Borg .
As the EU sets ambitious targets to decarbonize its energy supply system through the Green Deal, it is essential to explore opportunities to co-locate renewable energy generation systems with storage at sea.
The approach is expected to enable more efficient use of marine spaces, while avoiding the need for additional space on land to accommodate energy storage infrastructure. This could be very beneficial for islands, such as the central Mediterranean island of Malta, which have limited space on land to accommodate utility-scale sustainable energy technology solutions.