[COBREN] Territorial Cooperation for Blue Renewable Energy
Projects
01/09/23 - 31/05/25
EUR 449,000.00
The necessary scale-up of offshore energy capacity requires cooperation between EU Member States on long term planning, in line with the Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) Directive. While MSP can be instrumental in allocating sea space to specific uses in an integrated way, the plans proper do not authorise blue energy deployment; the latter requires issuing relevant development licences, which heavily depends on different national legislations and can be a lengthy process. “Understanding what licenses are required, who provides them, how long the consenting processes take and how offshore infrastructure intersects with onshore infrastructure are all critical elements for the rollout of offshore energy provision”5. Aware of the need to speed up the generation and distribution of blue renewable energy to reach the EU’s energy and climate goals, the European Parliament “… notes that streamlining the Member States’ procedures and technical standards will facilitate more rapid deployment …” which is why it “… calls on the Member States to set up a transparent process and consider introducing time limits for issuing permits, including necessary environmental assessments and studies as well as stakeholder consultations, and to introduce time limits for authorisation when fully complete dossiers have been provided, with a deadline for a decision…”.
The deployment of renewable sources of blue energy generation can provoke conflicts of interest with other sea uses, e.g. maritime transport, coastal tourism, fishery, aquaculture. Mapping land-sea interactions for specific sea uses can be an important element in (maritime) spatial planning, since it creates awareness of different stakeholder interests and can serve as starting point for stakeholder consultation to resolve potential conflicts. In this context, maritime uses can be combined through joint operations or joint installations to reduce development pressures on the sea.
Policy Questions
Related to increasing the overall capacity of ORE resources
- How can the overall capacity and efficiency of ORE resources (i.e. ocean energy derived from wind, the power of currents, tides and waves, and to a lesser extent from thermal and saline gradients in some locations) be improved while identifying and taking into account potentially conflicting interests?
- Which synergies exist between ORE and other sea uses and how could the co-use of offshore wind parks and other ORE devices be promoted?
- What have been/potentially can be negative externalities of deploying ORE resources throughout the entire life cycle of ORE deployment, such as implications for e.g. fishery, shipping routes, seabed and life underwater, landscape, and how have these been addressed by relevant stakeholders in planning and in practice? Case studies
- What are good practices regarding the resolution of sea-use conflicts with a cross-border dimension?
Related to the use of maritime spatial plans for expanding ORE
- How has the preparation of national maritime spatial plans in line with the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive changed the use of sea space and the management of sea-use conflicts across sea basins?
- Do existing national maritime spatial plans promote integrated maritime spatial planning?
- How are national maritime spatial plans aligned with national energy and climate plans and how could such links be further strengthened?
- How are potential spatial conflicts between ORE deployment and biodiversity ambitions dealt with in national maritime spatial plans and how could links between both of the latter be further strengthened?
- What are lessons learned and good practices regarding e.g. innovation within the planning process, national concertation and consultation mechanisms in the field of maritime spatial planning in particular in relation to expanding ORE?
- Are existing requirements for cooperation in the framework of the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive sufficient? If not, how could these requirements be strengthened on a regulatory or a voluntary basis?
Related to the use of EU instruments for expanding ORE
- How do EU cooperation mechanisms, such as European Territorial Cooperation programmes, currently support regional cooperation and conflict resolution about ORE? How could this be improved and used for similar issues related to increased use of ORE?
- How could the use of instruments, such as sea basin plans and regional sea conventions, further support regional cooperation?
The main outputs of the service shall be:
- Stock taking of the current use of European seas concerning the production and transport of ORE as well as combined uses of sea space by ORE and other blue economy activities.
- Territorial evidence on existing sea-use conflicts across European seas, synergies, negative externalities of ORE deployment and potential multifunctionality between ORE and other sea uses and good practices regarding the resolution of sea-use conflicts with a cross-border dimension.
- Reflections on the current state of play of ORE deployment in relation to 2030 and 2050 policy goals.
- Identification of linkages and potential synergies between national maritime spatial plans, national ORE/renewable energy and climate plans.
- Proposals of concrete instruments that could be applied to resolve sea use conflicts related to ORE as well as instruments/measures that could further support regional and transboundary cooperation related to increasing the use of ORE.
- Detailed case study analyses for all European sea basins, providing in-depth understanding of sea use related to ORE (incl. multi-use), maritime spatial planning with a focus on ORE, means of conflict resolution, stakeholder involvement, transboundary cooperation, etc.
- Concrete advice/guidelines to relevant national and regional policy makers and practitioners for increasing the use of ORE sources.
More information
Contractor: Joint Partners: Deloitte Consulting, BV (NL), Dutch Marine Energy Centre(NL), Wageningen University &Research(NL)
Contact:
- Michaela Gensheimer (Research and Policy Manager) [email protected],
- Caroline Clause ( Financial and Budget Manager) [email protected]