Offshore renewable energies: exploring floating modular energy islands—materials, construction technologies, and life cycle assessment

Enzo Marino; Michaela Gkantou; Abdollah Malekjafarian; Seevani Bali; Charalampos Baniotopoulos; Jeroen van Beeck; Ruben Paul Borg; Niccolo Bruschi; Philip Cardiff; Eleni Chatzi; Ivan Čudina; Florea Dinu; Evangelos Efthymiou; Giulio Ferri; Helena Gervásio; Junlin Heng; Zhiyu Jiang; Stefano Lenci; Ivan Lukačević; Lance Manuel; Angela Meyer; Mariela Méndez-Morales; Adnan Osmanović; Vikram Pakrashi; Amiya Pandit; Giuseppe Rega; Davor Skejić; Luana Tesch; Viorel Ungureanu; Tarik Uzunović; Amrit Shankar Verma

doi:10.1007/s40722-025-00403-y

Offshore renewable energies: exploring floating modular energy islands—materials, construction technologies, and life cycle assessment

Enzo Marino
, Michaela Gkantou
, Abdollah Malekjafarian
, Seevani Bali
, Charalampos Baniotopoulos
, Jeroen van Beeck
, Ruben Paul Borg
, Niccolo Bruschi
, Philip Cardiff
, Eleni Chatzi
, Ivan Čudina
, Florea Dinu
, Evangelos Efthymiou
, Giulio Ferri
, Helena Gervásio
, Junlin Heng
, Zhiyu Jiang
, Stefano Lenci
, Ivan Lukačević
, Lance Manuel

Angela Meyer, Mariela Méndez-Morales, Adnan Osmanović, Vikram Pakrashi, Amiya Pandit, Giuseppe Rega, Davor Skejić, Luana Tesch, Viorel Ungureanu, Tarik Uzunović, Amrit Shankar Verma

University of Florence
Liverpool John Moores University
University College Dublin
University of Birmingham
The von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics
University of Malta
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
University of Zagreb
Politehnica University of Timisoara
Romanian Academy
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
University of Coimbra
University of Agder
Marche Polytechnic University
University of Texas at Austin
Delft University of Technology
Bern University of Applied Sciences
University of Sarajevo
University of Rome La Sapienza
University of Maine

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Floating modular energy islands (FMEIs) are modular, interconnected floating structures designed to collectively produce, store, convert, and transport renewable energy. This review aims to establish a foundation for developing innovative approaches to sustainably harness multi-energy sources in offshore environments. It leverages existing technological expertise while exploring new solutions to address specific challenges associated with FMEIs. The review initially presents existing technologies for floating energy structures and assesses their applicability to FMEI. The structural materials that could be utilised for the construction of a floating energy island are subsequently reviewed. Next, the offshore construction technologies suitable for FMEI are reviewed. Finally, studies on the life cycle assessment of hybrid energy systems are examined, highlighting the environmental advantages of integrating multiple renewable energy sources, thereby underscoring the potential of FMEIs.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s40722-025-00403-y
Publication status	Accepted/In press - 2025
Externally published	Yes

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Keywords

Construction techniques
Floating energy islands
LCA
Materials
Offshore
Renewable energy

Access to Document

10.1007/s40722-025-00403-y

Cite this

Marino, E., Gkantou, M., Malekjafarian, A., Bali, S., Baniotopoulos, C., van Beeck, J., Borg, R. P., Bruschi, N., Cardiff, P., Chatzi, E., Čudina, I., Dinu, F., Efthymiou, E., Ferri, G., Gervásio, H., Heng, J., Jiang, Z., Lenci, S., Lukačević, I., ... Verma, A. S. (Accepted/In press). Offshore renewable energies: exploring floating modular energy islands—materials, construction technologies, and life cycle assessment. Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40722-025-00403-y

@article{32a011317efa46daa00e250058ff929b,

title = "Offshore renewable energies: exploring floating modular energy islands—materials, construction technologies, and life cycle assessment",

abstract = "Floating modular energy islands (FMEIs) are modular, interconnected floating structures designed to collectively produce, store, convert, and transport renewable energy. This review aims to establish a foundation for developing innovative approaches to sustainably harness multi-energy sources in offshore environments. It leverages existing technological expertise while exploring new solutions to address specific challenges associated with FMEIs. The review initially presents existing technologies for floating energy structures and assesses their applicability to FMEI. The structural materials that could be utilised for the construction of a floating energy island are subsequently reviewed. Next, the offshore construction technologies suitable for FMEI are reviewed. Finally, studies on the life cycle assessment of hybrid energy systems are examined, highlighting the environmental advantages of integrating multiple renewable energy sources, thereby underscoring the potential of FMEIs.",

keywords = "Construction techniques, Floating energy islands, LCA, Materials, Offshore, Renewable energy",

author = "Enzo Marino and Michaela Gkantou and Abdollah Malekjafarian and Seevani Bali and Charalampos Baniotopoulos and \{van Beeck\}, Jeroen and Borg, \{Ruben Paul\} and Niccolo Bruschi and Philip Cardiff and Eleni Chatzi and Ivan {\v C}udina and Florea Dinu and Evangelos Efthymiou and Giulio Ferri and Helena Gerv{\'a}sio and Junlin Heng and Zhiyu Jiang and Stefano Lenci and Ivan Luka{\v c}evi{\'c} and Lance Manuel and Angela Meyer and Mariela M{\'e}ndez-Morales and Adnan Osmanovi{\'c} and Vikram Pakrashi and Amiya Pandit and Giuseppe Rega and Davor Skeji{\'c} and Luana Tesch and Viorel Ungureanu and Tarik Uzunovi{\'c} and Verma, \{Amrit Shankar\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2025.",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1007/s40722-025-00403-y",

language = "English",

journal = "Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy",

issn = "2198-6444",

publisher = "Springer International Publishing AG",

}

Marino, E, Gkantou, M, Malekjafarian, A, Bali, S, Baniotopoulos, C, van Beeck, J, Borg, RP, Bruschi, N, Cardiff, P, Chatzi, E, Čudina, I, Dinu, F, Efthymiou, E, Ferri, G, Gervásio, H, Heng, J, Jiang, Z, Lenci, S, Lukačević, I, Manuel, L, Meyer, A, Méndez-Morales, M, Osmanović, A, Pakrashi, V, Pandit, A, Rega, G, Skejić, D, Tesch, L, Ungureanu, V, Uzunović, T & Verma, AS 2025, 'Offshore renewable energies: exploring floating modular energy islands—materials, construction technologies, and life cycle assessment', Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40722-025-00403-y

TY - JOUR

T1 - Offshore renewable energies

T2 - exploring floating modular energy islands—materials, construction technologies, and life cycle assessment

AU - Marino, Enzo

AU - Gkantou, Michaela

AU - Malekjafarian, Abdollah

AU - Bali, Seevani

AU - Baniotopoulos, Charalampos

AU - van Beeck, Jeroen

AU - Borg, Ruben Paul

AU - Bruschi, Niccolo

AU - Cardiff, Philip

AU - Chatzi, Eleni

AU - Čudina, Ivan

AU - Dinu, Florea

AU - Efthymiou, Evangelos

AU - Ferri, Giulio

AU - Gervásio, Helena

AU - Heng, Junlin

AU - Jiang, Zhiyu

AU - Lenci, Stefano

AU - Lukačević, Ivan

AU - Manuel, Lance

AU - Meyer, Angela

AU - Méndez-Morales, Mariela

AU - Osmanović, Adnan

AU - Pakrashi, Vikram

AU - Pandit, Amiya

AU - Rega, Giuseppe

AU - Skejić, Davor

AU - Tesch, Luana

AU - Ungureanu, Viorel

AU - Uzunović, Tarik

AU - Verma, Amrit Shankar

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - Floating modular energy islands (FMEIs) are modular, interconnected floating structures designed to collectively produce, store, convert, and transport renewable energy. This review aims to establish a foundation for developing innovative approaches to sustainably harness multi-energy sources in offshore environments. It leverages existing technological expertise while exploring new solutions to address specific challenges associated with FMEIs. The review initially presents existing technologies for floating energy structures and assesses their applicability to FMEI. The structural materials that could be utilised for the construction of a floating energy island are subsequently reviewed. Next, the offshore construction technologies suitable for FMEI are reviewed. Finally, studies on the life cycle assessment of hybrid energy systems are examined, highlighting the environmental advantages of integrating multiple renewable energy sources, thereby underscoring the potential of FMEIs.

AB - Floating modular energy islands (FMEIs) are modular, interconnected floating structures designed to collectively produce, store, convert, and transport renewable energy. This review aims to establish a foundation for developing innovative approaches to sustainably harness multi-energy sources in offshore environments. It leverages existing technological expertise while exploring new solutions to address specific challenges associated with FMEIs. The review initially presents existing technologies for floating energy structures and assesses their applicability to FMEI. The structural materials that could be utilised for the construction of a floating energy island are subsequently reviewed. Next, the offshore construction technologies suitable for FMEI are reviewed. Finally, studies on the life cycle assessment of hybrid energy systems are examined, highlighting the environmental advantages of integrating multiple renewable energy sources, thereby underscoring the potential of FMEIs.

KW - Construction techniques

KW - Floating energy islands

KW - LCA

KW - Materials

KW - Offshore

KW - Renewable energy

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105007862116

U2 - 10.1007/s40722-025-00403-y

DO - 10.1007/s40722-025-00403-y

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:105007862116

SN - 2198-6444

JO - Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy

JF - Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy

ER -

Offshore renewable energies: exploring floating modular energy islands—materials, construction technologies, and life cycle assessment

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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