Energies Media
Norway’s Voldsfjorden, two sun circles float alongside cod pens and turn an aquaculture site into an offshore power station.
Typically solar panels should be installed on a stable roof or fields. Here, they are carried by thin membranes over the moving seawater during winter.
The Alida system’s maximum design wave, according to Ocean Sun, is four meters or approximately 13 feet. This is not a reported wave strike, but rather engineering capacity.
Where is the best place to locate sensitive electrical facilities near fish cages, subjected to the effects of salt, wind, and waves on each connection?
In Møre og Romsdal, western Norway, Alida was installed in the second quarter of 2024.
Ocean Sun calls it a 160-kilowatt-peak system comprising two floating rings. When installed, it became the world’s most northern floating solar installation.
Alotta Energy developed the project using Ocean Sun’s membrane technology beside Ode’s cod-farming operation.
Each ring is a flexible membrane stretched over a circular floating collar, rather than rigid pontoons. The solar modules are placed low against that surface.
The water holds up the membrane, and the outer ring and mooring system stabilize the platform.
That low profile eliminates the wide, high surfaces against which the wind can press.
But the project also utilizes water already in use by aquaculture. It does not need an additional coastal parcel to accommodate its solar array.
Electricity reaches only to the equipment that requires power already installed offshore.
The plan from above appears straightforward. The real test starts when the calm surface begins to move under all panels.
The two rings are design rated for 4m maximum waves, 2.1m significant waves.
These are engineering estimates and do not represent an actual storm the system has encountered.
Ocean Sun states that the design Alida is aimed at Voldsfjorden and nearshore conditions during winter storms.
In 2024, two installations of its aquaculture solution were small demonstrations that yielded operating data in its annual report.
The company didn’t state that Alida had been through a measured 13-foot wave. The number remains a design parameter.
The allure of proving a record is not as immediate to the cod farm as it is to the 12-year-old.
Solar can provide a portion of the electrical power required by existing aquaculture facilities where shore power is not always available.
That can help to lower generator consumption when the sun is coming out and production is on the rise, but Alida materials do not provide any annual diesel-savings data.
At the same time, the fish business on the site had undergone a further transformation. Ode started laying out submersible pens for deeper, more stable water in 2025.
The solar rings thus complement an ever more complex aquaculture system, rather than supplanting it.
The rings do not spend time trying to stand above the water; they give way.
Standard PV modules are installed on a thin Hydro-elastic membrane by Ocean Sun. The surrounding collar provides buoyancy and structural support.
A low floating platform with a wave or wind protection membrane has less exposure to wind than a tall floating platform.
The panels are also cooled by direct contact with the water, which the company says can increase electrical production.
The mooring lines keep the circles from wandering off and also move them around as needed, according to the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research.
The design does not render saltwater innocuous. Inspection and marine grade protection of cables, connectors, anchors, and membranes are still to be done.
Alida demonstrates that renewable energy can be integrated with the operation of food production in the same space, not take its place.
The project is also small. It does not have a steady output, particularly in dark Norwegian winters, due to its 160-kilowatt-peak rating.
Solar production fluctuates based on daylight, clouds, snow, and equipment. Continuous power supply to a fish farm will be required for backup power.
Clean electricity isn’t the only thing that’s necessary for coexistence.
Prior to the commissioning of the solar system, a Norwegian report investigated an escape of approximately 87,000 farmed cod in 2022 from Alida.
Some fish escaped survived and spread locally, and the observed genetic effect was restricted at this time.
That history doesn’t account for the solar rings impact on the environment. It demonstrates the inability of energy claims to account for the total aquaculture footprint.
Floating solar has the potential to place generation right next to the offshore load, but as engineers gain experience with the behaviour of membranes, moorings and electronics working together.
The installation presents itself as two black circles beside the cod pens, both with the same moving surface from the fjord.
One system is used to raise fish below the water. The rest of the converts sunlight into electricity that can be used for nearby operations.
The project does not remove the need for backup power and the environmental duties of aquaculture.
It shows an application of shared space, but it is not sealed off from all movement, instead it is built around waves.
The rings’ subtle triumph is that they remain so useful where a solar field never could.
Daniel García is an Editor-in-Chief with strong expertise in structural work and engineering principles. He combines this technical foundation with deep knowledge of energy, spatial design, and emerging technologies, bringing a forward-thinking and analytical approach to editorial leadership.
Daniel García is an Editor-in-Chief with strong expertise in structural work and engineering principles. He combines this technical foundation with deep knowledge of energy, spatial design, and emerging technologies, bringing a forward-thinking and analytical approach to editorial leadership.
Daniel García is an Editor-in-Chief with strong expertise in structural work and engineering principles. He combines this technical foundation with deep knowledge of energy, spatial design, and emerging technologies, bringing a forward-thinking and analytical approach to editorial leadership.

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