Development of Offshore Wind Power: Contrasting Optimal Wind Sites with Legal Restrictions in Galicia, Spain

The region of Galicia, in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, has a high wind potential for the installation of offshore wind farms (OWFs) in many areas of its surrounding marine waters. However, legal restrictions derived from the protection of other interests that converge in the marine environment (such as fishing, navigation, and biodiversity conservation) must be considered, along with technical limitations resulting from water depth. This study is aimed at analysing legal restrictions on the installation of OWFs in Galician waters and at identifying those zones of less conflict where the wind power density (WPD) is greater and the depths and distances from the coast are technically feasible given the current status of technology in Europe. To do this, a legal study was performed of both the strategic environmental assessment of the Spanish coast and the regulations of the different marine sectors at European, international, national, and regional levels. In addition, the WPD along the north-western area of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe was calculated, and an analysis of maximum and average depths and distances from the coast of planned and installed OWFs in Europe was made. Two main zones without legal and technical restrictions were identified in the north-eastern corner of Galicia and in the south of the Vigo estuary. The greatest WPD was identified in the north-western zone, from Cape Finisterre to Cape Ortegal, where there are small sites without legal or technical restrictions that are near several protected zones (such as a marine reserve, a special protected area, and a wetland and its buffer zone), making necessary a deeper analysis of the specific impacts of each OWF project in the Environmental Impact Assessment.

[1]  Laura Castro-Santos,et al.  Economic influence of location in floating offshore wind farms , 2015 .

[2]  M. J. Khan,et al.  Wind energy resource map of Newfoundland , 2004 .

[3]  Carlos Soria-Rodríguez,et al.  Marine Renewable Energies and the European Regional Seas Conventions , 2016 .

[4]  K. Soma,et al.  The Governance of multi-use platforms at sea forenergy production and aquaculture: challenges forpolicy makers in European seas , 2016 .

[5]  Madeleine Gibescu,et al.  The legal and economic impacts of implementing a joint feed-in premium support scheme on the development of an offshore grid , 2015 .

[6]  Tarun Dhingra,et al.  Critique of offshore wind energy policies of the UK and Germany—What are the lessons for India , 2013 .

[7]  Pedro M. M. Soares,et al.  Western Iberian offshore wind resources: More or less in a global warming climate? , 2017 .

[8]  Tian Pau Chang,et al.  Estimation of wind energy potential using different probability density functions , 2011 .

[9]  P. Erreguerena.  Mexico: A Leader in Ratification of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage , 2010 .

[10]  M. Gómez-Gesteira,et al.  Offshore winds and wind energy production estimates derived from ASCAT, OSCAT, numerical weather prediction models and buoys – A comparative study for the Iberian Peninsula Atlantic coast , 2017 .

[11]  Oliver Todt,et al.  Conflict in the Sea of Trafalgar: offshore wind energy and its context , 2011 .

[12]  George Galanis,et al.  Assessing the European offshore wind and wave energy resource for combined exploitation , 2017 .

[13]  D. Roddier,et al.  Summary and Conclusions of the Full Life-Cycle of the WindFloat FOWT Prototype Project , 2017 .

[14]  Juan Bald,et al.  Review of consenting processes for ocean energy in selected European Union Member States , 2015 .

[15]  Mark J. Kaiser,et al.  Offshore wind power in the US: Regulatory issues and models for regulation , 2009 .

[16]  M. Loureiro,et al.  The impact of offshore wind farms on beach recreation demand: Policy intake from an economic study on the Catalan coast , 2017 .

[17]  Glen Wright,et al.  Regulating marine renewable energy development: a preliminary assessment of UK permitting processes , 2014 .

[18]  Emma Gibson,et al.  The legal framework for offshore wind farms: A critical analysis of the consents process☆ , 2010 .

[19]  Ulf Hansson,et al.  21st century changes in the European climate: uncertainties derived from an ensemble of regional climate model simulations , 2011 .

[20]  T. Soukissian,et al.  Achieving Blue Growth through maritime spatial planning: Offshore wind energy optimization and biodiversity conservation in Spain , 2016 .

[21]  C. Soares,et al.  Wind resource assessment offshore the Atlantic Iberian coast with the WRF model , 2018 .

[22]  Andrew R. Henderson,et al.  Floating Offshore Wind Energy — A Review of the Current Status and an Assessment of the Prospects , 2010 .

[23]  Glen Wright.  Strengthening the role of science in marine governance through environmental impact assessment: A case study of the marine renewable energy industry , 2014 .

[24]  Laura Castro-Santos.  Decision Variables for Floating Offshore Wind Farms Based on Life-Cycle Cost: the Case Study of Galicia (North-West of Spain) , 2016 .

[25]  Uang,et al.  The NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis , 2010 .

[26]  R. Barthelmie,et al.  Analyses of possible changes in intense and extreme wind speeds over northern Europe under climate change scenarios , 2010, Climate Dynamics.

[27]  Recent development of offshore marine power in Galicia , 2016 .

[28]  David Toke,et al.  The UK offshore wind power programme: A sea-change in UK energy policy? , 2011 .

[29]  Gregorio Iglesias,et al.  A strategic policy framework for promoting the marine energy sector in Spain , 2015 .

[30]  Johann Köppel,et al.  Offshore wind energy development in the exclusive economic zone: Legal and policy supports and impediments in Germany and the US , 2009 .

[31]  Qian Yi,et al.  Wind Profiles and Wave Spectra for Potential Wind Farms in South China Sea. Part I: Wind Speed Profile Model , 2017 .

[32]  S. Kerr,et al.  Establishing a legal research agenda for ocean energy , 2016 .

[33]  Antonio Colmenar-Santos,et al.  Offshore wind energy: A review of the current status, challenges and future development in Spain , 2016 .

[34]  George L. Mellor,et al.  A Simulation of the Wangara Atmospheric Boundary Layer Data , 1975 .

[35]  G. Giebel,et al.  Europe's onshore and offshore wind energy potential : An assessment of environmental and economic constraints , 2009 .

[36]  M. Gómez-Gesteira,et al.  Offshore wind energy resource simulation forced by different reanalyses: Comparison with observed data in the Iberian Peninsula , 2014 .

[37]  Jarosław Wątróbski,et al.  Using the PROSA Method in Offshore Wind Farm Location Problems , 2017 .

[38]  Oscar Fitch-Roy,et al.  An offshore wind union? Diversity and convergence in European offshore wind governance , 2016 .

[39]  Seyit Ahmet Akdağ,et al.  A new method to estimate Weibull parameters for wind energy applications , 2009 .

[40]  M. Gómez-Gesteira,et al.  Potential impacts of climate change on European wind energy resource under the CMIP5 future climate projections , 2017 .