The rise of floating solar in Australia
Canopy Power Australia and Ocean Sun join forces to accelerate floating solar solutions in Australia.
The strategic partnership blends advanced renewable energy engineering with the latest generation of floating solar technology to provide top-tier renewable energy and sustainable water solutions at once.
February 4th 2025, Melbourne, Australia - Canopy Power Australia, a leading renewable energy engineering and solutions provider and Ocean Sun, a pioneering floating solar technology company announced a strategic partnership today. This collaboration aims to accelerate the deployment of the new generation of floating solar solutions across Australia's water bodies, addressing the growing demand for renewable energy and sustainable water, at once.
Key Partnership Highlights:
Canopy Power Australia and Ocean Sun are jointly introducing the new generation of floating solar solution to the Australian market.
This new generation of floating solar, patented by Ocean Sun, consists of a circular membrane-based floater of 70m diameter. High efficiency solar panels are installed on the membrane to provide 700kWp of PV capacity. Integrated pumps on the floater harvest millions of litres of rainwater per year. These floating rings can be scaled, as needed, to provide the desired solar PV and rainwater harvesting capacity.
Canopy Power designs and deploys the floating solar microgrid solutions and integrates when needed, other energy assets such as battery storage, rooftop or ground mounted solar PV and wind energy.
This innovative energy and water solution aims to solve the following problems in Australia:
o Land scarcity: By freeing up land for other uses such as building and farming, and saving on land acquisition and preparation costs for renewable energy deployments
o Water scarcity: By conserving water through reduced evaporation thanks to the membrane coverage on the water body, and by providing an alternative source of water by harvesting the rainwater
o Water quality: By reducing algae blooming in the water body
o Accelerate energy transition: By providing a solution which is easy and quick to install and maintain.
Companies and communities owning or living near water bodies, such as water companies, farms, energy companies and hydrogen production facilities will be direct benefited from this cost friendly and sustainable electricity and water solution.
“We are committed to making a meaningful impact on Australia's renewable energy and sustainability goals. We believe that the strategic partnership between Ocean Sun and Canopy Power will enable us to introduce a unique and highly relevant solution to the Australian market, accelerating the energy transition and addressing key challenges,” said Mahasti Motazedi, the Managing Director at Canopy Power Australia.
"We are thrilled to partner with Canopy Power Australia to bring our innovative floating solar technology to the Australian market. This collaboration leverages our complementary expertise to address critical challenges such as land and water scarcity while accelerating the transition to renewable energy. Together, we aim to provide sustainable and cost-effective solutions that benefit both companies and communities across Australia," said Kristian Tørvold, CEO of Ocean Sun.
About Canopy Power Australia:
Canopy Power Australia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canopy Power, a Singapore based growing engineering company, specialized in renewable microgrids between 1 and 10MW capacity, with a focus on floating solar solutions. Canopy Power has projects in Southeast Asia, Pacific Islands, Caribbeans Islands, Maldives and Australia.
About Ocean Sun:
By combining Norwegian maritime expertise and knowledge within photovoltaics, Ocean Sun has developed an innovation that offers a bold solution to our global energy needs. The patented technology is based on solar modules mounted on hydro-elastic membranes and offers cost and performance benefits not seen in any other floating PV system today. With offices in Oslo, Singapore and Shanghai, Ocean Sun is embarking on its vision to be the world's leading technology provider of floating solar.
For further details, please contact:
· Mahasti Motazedi, Managing Director Canopy Power Australia mahasti.motazedi@canopypower.com
· Kristian Tørvold, CEO of Ocean Sun kt@oceansun.no
