Study On Baltic Offshore Wind Energy Cooperation Under Bemip

The potential for offshore wind power in the Baltic Sea is substantial. The competitiveness of offshore wind generation varies markedly across the Baltic Sea area, mainly due to wind conditions, connection costs and market values. Especially the southern part of the Baltic Sea shows attractive sites due to higher market values for offshore wind power generation. Thus, there is a scope for better utilization of the most attractive sites for offshore wind power through a cooperative, regional approach. The market and grid modelling show that offshore wind power in the best sites can be competitive already in 2030, and that offshore wind power can play a significant role in the transition of the Baltic Sea Energy system in accordance with the EU long-term decarbonisation strategy under the UN IPCC Paris Agreement. Cooperation on offshore wind power projects as cross-border renewable energy (RES) projects can realise substantial economic benefits through the achievement of renewable energy targets at lower cost. Additional benefits can be realised by integrating the cooperation on offshore wind power in regional grid planning. Substantial investments in onshore grids are expected to become necessary regardless of the development of the offshore wind power resources. By taking offshore wind power deployment into account early on in grid planning, substantial efficiency gains can be obtained. The development of advanced offshore hubs, connecting wind power to two or more Member States, could also be beneficial, and this option should be explored. Efficient regional deployment of Baltic Sea wind power resources requires that national administrative and regulatory barriers such as inefficient and non-transparent licencing procedures and the lack of or poor data for maritime spatial planning, are addressed. In addition, regional cooperative solutions on tendering and support mechanisms, on grid connection charges and cost sharing mechanisms, and on integrated regional grid planning, are important pre-requisites for harnessing the offshore wind power potential of the region. In order to achieve efficiency gains through coordination, a common long-term vision has to be agreed that can be used to identify crucial investments in generation and grid infrastructure, along with appropriate measures and incentives to realise them.

Baltic Energy Technology Scenarios 2018 (BENTE) is a scenario-based energy system analysis that explores the changes in the Baltic countries’ energy systems. What are the drivers and their impacts in the following decades? What would be required for the Baltic countries to meet their climate and energy targets in 2030, and what development would lead the Baltics towards a 2°C pathway? The report finds that the Baltic countries’ proposed renewable energy (RE) targets can be achieved using domestic resources. More renewable energy (electricity, heat and fuels) lets energy demanding sectors reduce GHG emissions and increase the RE share. However, the Baltic countries still do not reach their Effort Sharing Sector’s 2030 targets in the 4°C Scenario (4DS). Without policies to stimulate local renewable energy generation, the Baltics are likely to become large net importers of electricity.

There is clearly an urgent need worldwide to increase the share of renewable energy in the overall energy supply as rapidly as possible. With a well-developed and proven feasible technology, offshore wind power has come to the fore as the most promising means of achieving this goal. However, fragmented authorities and procedures may pose tremendous challenges to the development of an integrated legal framework for offshore wind and the complex installation and grid interconnections it requires. This book surveys and analyses the features essential for the development of such a framework, drawing on the experience of ten countries that have such schemes in place – France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, the United States, Australia, China, Korea, and Taiwan. Discussing the impact of technological, economic, spatial, and market issues on the legal framework, eleven key policymakers in their respective countries contribute chapters that together reveal the contours of a strong and sound legal framework that serves to enable and facilitate the efficient application of policy initiatives and subsidies. Topics and issues raised and examined include the ways a sound legal framework addresses the following aspects of offshore wind power development: - license schemes; - construction of turbines; - infrastructure of grid, construction harbor, and vessels; - environmental health and safety regulations; and - loan and finance risk. The contributors show that a carefully planned mix of incentives and supplementary schemes is indispensable. The essays are drawn on the presentations and papers offered at the International Conference on a Comprehensive Legal Framework for the Development of Offshore Wind Power Around the World held in Taiwan in August 2016. As a major new contribution to the debate on the importance of a legal framework for offshore wind power and grid interconnections, this book will prove indispensable to lawyers, policymakers, officials, and academics concerned with the management of sea space to include the wind power necessary to achieve and sustain renewable energy goals.

This book provides a holistic, interdisciplinary overview of offshore wind energy, and is a must-read for advanced researchers. Topics, from the design and analysis of future turbines, to the decommissioning of wind farms, are covered. The scope of the work ranges from analytical, numerical and experimental advancements in structural and fluid mechanics, to novel developments in risk, safety & reliability engineering for offshore wind.The core objective of the current work is to make offshore wind energy more competitive, by improving the reliability, and operations and maintenance (O&M) strategies of wind turbines. The research was carried out under the auspices of the EU-funded project, MARE-WINT. The project provided a unique opportunity for a group of researchers to work closely together, undergo multidisciplinary doctoral training, and conduct research in the area of offshore wind energy generation. Contributions from expert, external authors are also included, and the complete work seeks to bridge the gap between research and a rapidly-evolving industry.

"This book analyses the potential for active stakeholder engagement in the energy transition in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) in order to foster clean energy deployment. Public acceptability and bottom-up activities can be critical for enduring otucomes to an energy transition. As a result, it is vital to understand how to unlock the potential for public, community and prosumer participation to facilitate renewable energy deployment and a clean energy transition - and, consequently, to examine the factors influencing social acceptability. Focussing on the diverse BSR, this book draws on expert contributions to consider a range of different topics, including the challenges of social acceptance and its policy implications; strategies to address challenges of acceptability among stakeholders; and community engagement in clean energy production. Overall, the authors examine the practical implications of current policy measures and provide recommendations on how lessons learnt from this 'energy lab region' may be applied to other regions. Reflecting an interdisciplinary approach in the social sciences, this book is an essential resource for scholars, students and policymakers researching and working in the areas of renewable energy, energy policy and citizen engagement, and interested in understanding the potential for bottom-up, grassroots activities and social acceptability to expedite the energy transition and reanimate democracies"--