Balancing profitability of energy production, societal impacts and biodiversity in offshore wind farm design

Regionally extended shared socioeconomic pathways for the offshore wind industry in Finland

“…This information can lead to better informed policies, decisions and actions that impact offshore wind development. Furthermore, the results can support marine spatial plans at the regional level by revealing how offshore wind may develop and the relevant drivers of change, while considering the impacts on alternate uses of the marine space, particularly when combined with other quantitative and spatial data (Virtanen et al 2022). Finally, these results can be used as inputs for other extended cases in different industries and sectors.…”

“…Without public support, offshore wind is unlikely to see continued and expanded development in Finland. This is a sentiment echoed in previous research with prior studies finding community and public acceptance to be a key driver of development (Devine-Wright 2005;Jones and Richard Eiser 2010;Virtanen et al 2022). Improving and managing public perception and acceptability of wind farm projects can help solve land-use and stakeholder conflicts at the local level, and increasing communication between planners and the public can achieve higher acceptance levels (Sus ˇkevic ˇs et al 2019).…”

“…Developing wind power offshore can partly alleviate some of these issues; however, offshore can also cause conflicts with other uses of the marine space and harm local ecosystems (Mooney et al 2020;Pfeiffer et al 2021;Voltaire et al 2017). In Finland, spatial analyses have been undertaken to determine key locations for offshore development that minimise the impact to the surrounding environment and communities but are still economically viable (Virtanen et al 2022). There is a need to simultaneously account for several issues present in Finnish waters: cost of transmission and building infrastructure, impacts on marine fauna and flora, needs of defence sector for surveillance and radar equipment, availability of shallow sea area far enough from the coast that limits visual impact on nearby households.…”

“…A similar situation is present in other parts of the world where potential for offshore energy is large, but development is slow. We should increase understanding on the opportunities and risks present in offshore development, and the compromises between the competing uses of the marine space (Virtanen et al 2022). We are interested in understanding the drivers, risks and opportunities for offshore development under different global futures.…”

Global dynamics of the offshore wind energy sector monitored with Sentinel-1: Turbine count, installed capacity and site specifications

“…Such areas offer favourable conditions, as costs during construction are lower due to reduced logistical effort and less materials for foundations and submarine cables to be used (Kim et al, 2018). However, These areas are often characterised by intensive multiple use by different stakeholders and purposes that mix socio-economic and environmental interests such as fishing, aquaculture, shipping routes, recreational spaces, populated coastal areas, cultural heritage or nature conservation areas (Kim et al, 2018;Russell and Firestone, 2022;Gusatu et al, 2020;Virtanen et al, 2022). Embedding offshore wind energy sites in these already diverse and existing multiple uses of coastal areas poses major planning challenges (Guşatu et al, 2021;Virtanen et al, 2022).…”