14 July 2026
The NATURSEA-PV project was represented at one of the world’s most important conferences in marine and offshore engineering: the ASME 45th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering (OMAE 2026), held from 7 to 12 June 2026 at the Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba in Tokyo, Japan. The conference brought together over 1,200 researchers, engineers and industry professionals from more than 30 countries, with over 900 technical papers presented across all areas of ocean, offshore and arctic engineering.
Two NATURSEA-PV consortium partners, MARIN (Maritime Research Institute Netherlands) and CENTEC (Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa), contributed a total of three scientific papers covering the numerical design, structural concept and hydrodynamic behaviour of the project’s offshore floating photovoltaic substructure.
Papers presented
1. Numerical Design and Validation of a Flexible Offshore Photovoltaic Floater
N. Baderiya, L. Kemp, W. Otto, P. Schrijvers (MARIN)
This paper addresses the numerical modelling and validation of a flexible floater concept for offshore photovoltaic applications, contributing to the development of reliable simulation tools for the design of floating PV structures in real sea conditions.
2. Conceptual Design of an Offshore Photovoltaic System in Low-Carbon Ultra-High-Performance Concrete
N. Baderiya, W. Otto (MARIN), E. Camacho (FORMEX), G. Abdelghany, S. Wang, C. Guedes Soares (CENTEC)
A joint contribution from MARIN and CENTEC, this paper presents the conceptual design of an offshore PV system built with the low-carbon ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) developed within the NATURSEA-PV project. The work bridges the gap between material innovation and structural design, demonstrating how the project’s bio-inspired substructure concept can be translated into a viable offshore system.
3. Dynamic Analysis of Mooring Lines and a Floating Offshore Photovoltaic System Under Extreme Environmental Conditions
S. Wang, J. Desiderati, C. Guedes Soares (CENTEC)
Presented by Prof. Carlos Guedes Soares, this paper investigates the dynamic behaviour of mooring lines and a floating offshore PV system under extreme environmental loading, providing critical insights into the survivability and reliability of offshore floating photovoltaic installations.
About OMAE
The International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering (OMAE) is organised annually by the Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Now in its 45th edition, OMAE is widely recognised as the premier international forum for the presentation of new advances in offshore engineering, ship structures, renewable ocean energy, and arctic sciences. The 2026 edition marked only the second time in 40 years that Tokyo hosted the conference.
The presence of NATURSEA-PV at OMAE 2026 with three papers underscores the project’s growing contribution to the scientific discourse on offshore floating photovoltaics and the role of advanced concrete materials in the energy transition.
