China floated a solar platform above an offshore fish pen, then sank the whole system underwater to see whether fish, shellfish, algae, and electricity could all share the same patch of sea

China is merging solar deployment with offshore aquaculture and now seeks the perfect mooring length.

The Chinese are leading the world in renewable energy projects, with clean power generation reaching new highs.

However, these large-scale developments have taken up substantial space, necessitating multi-use ocean installations.

The simulation’s findings prove that utility-scale solar generation can be safely paired with aquaculture in harsh marine environments.

The nation is now meeting carbon targets while expanding its marine food production sector, but a key challenge remains.

Will the latest simulation study help overcome instability issues in harsh ocean environments?

How breaking records in green capacity led to spatial bottlenecks

China is a highly ambitious nation, often pursuing geopolitical, economic, and technological goals.

Its national climate targets, albeit contradictory in some sense, highlight the country’s goal of becoming a carbon-neutral society.

The targets are, respectively, to peak carbon emissions before 2030, then to achieve net-zero before 2060.

To reach its ultimate milestone, renewable energy infrastructure has been deployed at an unprecedented pace.

China’s total installed green capacity has exceeded 1,800 gigawatts.

Of this total capacity, solar energy accounts for 1.28 terawatts.

These achievements have cemented the country as the world’s leading renewable energy producer.

However, while this clean power boom may be historic, it has consumed vast land resources in a densely populated nation.

This has led to immense land competition with residential development, agriculture, industrial use, and conservation.

As a result, developers are running out of options for continued utility-scale land-based clean energy development.

Moving solar generation to the next frontier

The Chinese relentlessly continue to roll out solar and smart-grid projects.

This is due to the distinct benefits the technology has in store for the nation.

Among all renewable sources, photovoltaics have the highest scalability and can be deployed the fastest.

Furthermore, the nation is dominating in domestic manufacturing.

This has significantly reduced the cost of modules, rendering large-scale solar the most economic strategy to replace fossil fuels.

As installation space grew scarcer, developers turned to inventive deployment solutions.

The next step in capacity growth entails transforming the ocean into a green energy hub.

Offshore floating photovoltaics have become an industrial necessity to bypass land competition.

However, the shift toward the ocean brings immediate conflict with China’s major aquaculture sector.

Concerns include disruption to local fishing sites and interference with existing fish pens and shellfish ropes.

To overcome these concerns, the Government of Yancheng is testing and managing the dual use of shallow coastal waters.

Simulating the perfect dual deployment of solar power and aquaculture

Seafood production practices are being combined with solar generation to maximize ocean space.

However, the main challenge to dual deployment is to keep the floating solar platforms stable in rocking waves.

Researchers addressed hydrodynamic issues by using OrcaFlex software to simulate a coupled model of the Huanghai No.1 platform.

The study modeled the structural dynamics across 17 different gradient tests.

This would establish how mooring radius impacts platform movement under extreme wave conditions.

Finding the mooring sweet spot

The study tested everything from loose catenary layouts to tight taut configurations.

A relative mooring length of roughly 0.73 was isolated as a critical limit.

This ratio lets mooring stiffness spike while line tensions remain safe. This means the platform remains stable while the total cage volume deformation is limited.

By keeping the platform stable, the risk of straining electrical cables drops.

Furthermore, stable subsurface pens increase protection of cultivated shellfish, fish, and seaweed.

The simulation’s findings prove that utility-scale solar generation can be safely paired with aquaculture in harsh marine environments.

The key to success is to deploy the dual-system with precise mooring configurations.

This creates a positive outlook for China’s future ocean capacity growth. It boosts clean power generation, but also increases local seafood production.

Ultimately, by adopting the 0.73 mooring ratio as a standard threshold, floating solar commercial deployment can be fast-tracked.

The simulations findings can be reviewed here: Pan Y, Zhang J, Zhao S, Li L, Xue D, Liu C, et al. Research on the Mooring System of Fishery-Photovoltaic Complementary Integrated Structure Under Wave Action. Marine Energy Research 2026, 3, 10017. https://doi.org/10.70322/mer.2026.10017