Potential of Marine Spatial Planning as a Basis for Offshore Wind Impact Assessments

Offshore wind energy (OWE) is a reality in European waters for the last 25 years; however, no offshore turbines are yet operational in the United States. A cumbersome environmental permitting process, which includes... [ view full abstract ]

Offshore wind energy (OWE) is a reality in European waters for the last 25 years; however, no offshore turbines are yet operational in the United States. A cumbersome environmental permitting process, which includes environmental impact assessments, is cited as one barrier to development. Impact assessments require adequate biological data of appropriate temporal and spatial scales, such as the distribution and abundance of cetaceans. These data are often lacking at project sites, thus additional research and surveys must be conducted, further lengthening the development process. Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a method of incorporating the interests of various stakeholders, such as OWE, into the spatial allocation of the marine space. Using a case study approach, the MSP processes and OWE development in Rhode Island, Germany, and Denmark were examined to determine if the scale of cetacean data needed for OWE environmental impact assessments could be gathered from the outcomes of MSP.
Preliminary results show that data management in MSP processes is not universal and the influence of this data on OWE impact assessments is varied. In Germany, OWE impact assessment data requirements were satisfied with existing data and the Danish constructed 1,271 MW of OWE installed capacity without a formal MSP process. However, in Rhode Island, a MSP process that focused on the OWE sector effectively streamlined data collection, analysis, and management in order to accelerate OWE development of the Block Island project. Offshore wind development is possible without MSP; however, the biological data used in impact assessments may be outdated or its acquisition may cause lengthy delays in the development process. Directed biological data collection, analysis, and management efforts should thus be conducted during MSP processes, prior to OWE development, to ensure appropriate and adequate scales of data are included in impact assessments to inform the permitting process.