Abstract
Offshore wind megaprojects in European waters have significant carbon abatement potential and increasing their number is a policy goal for several European maritime nations. But experience has shown that governance of large-scale, commercial offshore wind development is not straightforward. It is found that in five EU member states, policy innovation intended to enable investment in offshore wind projects is leading to a convergence upon a distinctive European model of offshore wind governance. The European Union appears to play numerous roles in this process and further research into how offshore wind policy innovation propagates in the EU is warranted.Policy relevanceThe governance of offshore wind megaproject development places specific demands on several areas of policy. This article firstly provides an account of recent developments in how offshore wind governance functions in some of the most important offshore wind-using nations. Secondly, the discussion of the EU's role in shaping offshore wind governance will inform future debates about the proper role of the EU in enabling investment in these megaprojects. Thirdly, the fact that policy appears to be converging raises questions about how policy is transmitted between EU member states, the answers to which could be valuable to policy makers looking at other areas of energy governance. Finally, the observed trend of increasing centralization of decision-making should be of interest to policy makers mindful of the role of scale and decentralization in debates about energy governance.
Highlights
Offshore wind megaprojects in European waters have significant carbon abatement potential and increasing their number is a policy goal for several European maritime nations
The analysis considers two main areas of offshore wind governance, marine resource management and economic governance
Administrative proces Certificate marke Competitive proces. These findings clearly show that all four of the elements of offshore wind governance explored here show significant convergence upon a model based on: 1. designated-site or zoned land tenure model; 2. targeted reform of how development rights are issued ; 3
Summary
Between these two extremes is an approach in which state authorities offer an offshore wind ‘zone’ or zones to a company or companies for the construction of a single wind farm with a degree of freedom over the final location and detailed design. Obtaining permission to develop an offshore wind farm is generally more complex than for onshore renewables (Toke, 2011). A fourth model may be added in which the transmission system is extended to accommodate offshore connections AND the connection from the wind farm to the offshore transmission system is handled by the TSO. From the perspective of a power generation project developer, there are three elements or answers to questions which define a complete financial settlement. From the perspective of a power generation project developer, there are three elements or answers to questions which define a complete financial settlement9 These are access - how is the support accessed? Having outlined the key elements of marine resource planning and economic governance relevant to the development of offshore wind in the EU, the following section outlines the main characteristics of the sector in 5 countries, and how these have evolved over time
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