Socio-enonomic Analysis of a Selected Multi-use Offshore Site in the North Sea

Tore Söderqvist, Bilge Bas, Mark de Bel, Arjen Boon, Nilay Elginoz, Rita Garcao, Elias Giannakis, Amerissa Giannouli, Phoebe Koundouri, Aris Moussoulides, Jenny Norrman, Lars Rosén, Jan-Joost Schouten, Marian Stuiver, Stella Tsani, Petros Xepapedeas

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterProfessional

Abstract

A 600 MW offshore wind farm is under construction in the Netherlands Exclusive Economic Zone at a site called Gemini situated 55 km north of the Wadden Sea island of Schiermonnikoog and 85 km from the nearest Dutch port of Eemshaven. This chapter investigates the option of introducing a multi-use design for the Gemini site by adding mussel cultivation (48 kt wet weight per year) and seaweed cultivation (480 kt wet weight per year) to the wind farm. An institutional analysis indicates a political will in the Netherlands to support the development of adding uses to offshore wind farms, but a number of implementation obstacles are also identified. Those obstacles include an absence of licences for multi-use production and legal restrictions against third-party access to wind farms. There is therefore a need for a regulatory framework for multi-use and trust-building among actors involved in multi-use installations. A financial and economic assessment, and a cost-benefit analysis also taking into account monetized changes in CO2 emissions, indicate that adding mussel cultivation to the wind farm is likely to be both financially and socio-economically viable. Including a seaweed cultivation function is probably not financially and socio-economically viable under current technical and economic conditions. Knowledge gaps and uncertainties in these assessments with respect to, for example, missing site-specific data and non-monetized externalities suggest further research, also including pilot cultivations of mussels and seaweed in planned single-use or multi-use installations.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Ocean of Tomorrow
Subtitle of host publicationInvestment Assessment of Multi-Use Offshore Platforms: Methodology and Applications
EditorsPhoebe Koundouri
Place of PublicationCham, Switzerland
PublisherSpringer
Pages43-67
ISBN (Electronic)9783319557724
ISBN (Print)9783319557700
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 May 2017

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Socio-enonomic Analysis of a Selected Multi-use Offshore Site in the North Sea'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this