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Item Marine renewable energies and maritime spatial planning: different national proposals for their legal and spatial context(European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC), 2023) Menchaca, Iratxe; Galparsoro, Ibon; Verling, Emma; Machado, Inês; LeBourhis, Enored; Soulard, Thomas; Bald, Juan; Muxika, Iñigo; European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency; Sobradillo, Beatriz; Vinagre, PedroIn 2022, the European Commission adopted the REPower EU package which proposes to further increase the 2030 target for renewables from 40 % to 45 % and revise the Renewable Energy Directive to accelerate permitting. Moreover, the European Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy estimates to have an installed capacity of at least 60 GW of offshore wind and at least 1 GW of ocean energy by 2030, reaching 300 GW and 40 GW of installed capacity, respectively, by 2050, which would require less than 3% of the European maritime space. The marine environment is an ecosystem that supports a set of uses and human activities, contributing to economic and social development. Most of the uses and activities require the use of maritime space, either temporarily or permanently, increasing the potential for conflict with existing and traditional marine uses. The European Directive 2014/89/UE establishes a framework for marine spatial planning (MSP) and requires the competent authorities in each Member State to develop national maritime spatial plans, analysing and organizing human activities in marine areas, applying ecosystem-based approach, involving stakeholders, in order to achieve ecological, economic and social objectives. Moreover, this MSP framework not only intends to mitigate possible present and future spatial conflicts but also contemplates the emerging sectors and the most recent technological development in the sea. In the context of the EU-funded SAFEWave project (https://www.safewave-project.eu/), the different National Maritime Spatial Plans in Europe and how the Marine Renewable Energies (MRE) have been considered or integrated in different national plans have been analysed (i.e. Spain, France, Ireland, Portugal and United Kingdom). The outcome of this analysis has identified: (i) the approaches to implementation of MSP plans vary by country and sometimes within countries; (ii) differences in the stakeholder or public involvement in MSP (ii) differences in national MRE targets; (ii) different strategies and priorities for raising the issue of MRE within the national MSP; (iii) for which countries MREs are strategics in their national plans; (iv) conflicts with other uses (i.e. Marine Protected Areas), and mechanisms to solve them; (vi) technical, socio-economic and environmental factors considered for MRE polygons identification in national MSP; (vii) the development of national MSP requires a review of the authorization or concession procedures for the allocation or reservation of areas for MREs. Ultimately, comparing the integration of national plans for marine renewable energy (MRE) into national marine spatial plans (MSP) can inform and guide management strategies, legislation, and policies to support management actions and efficiently plan future MRE deployments.Item SafeWAVE The contribution of the SafeWAVE EU project to the future development of ocean energy'(European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC), 2023) Bald, Juan; Galparsoro, Ibon; De Santiago, Iñaki; Menchaca, Iratxe; Uyarra, Maria Calvo; Pouso, Sarai; Uriarte, Ainhize; Muxika, Iñigo; Sobradillo, Beatriz; Vinagre, Pedro; Machado, Inês; Clementino, Luana; Chainho, Paulo; Gonçalvez, Janete; Soulard, Thomas; Le Bourhis, Enored; Madrid, Eduardo; Felis, Iván; Verling, Emma; Dunphy, Niall; Smith, Aaron Luke; Iglesias, Gregorio; Lennon, Breffni; Torre Enciso, Yago; Zubiate, Laura; Chambel, José; Bartolomeu, Sofia Cardoso; Santos, Hélio; Villarin, Enric; Troussard, Corentin; Tanguy, Florian; Longeroche, Jean Luc; Magaldi, Phillipe; Holm, Toni; European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive AgencyThe European Atlantic Ocean offers a high potential for marine renewable energy (MRE), which is targeted to be at least 32% of the EU’s gross final consumption by 2030. The European Commission is supporting the development of the ocean energy sector through an array of activities and policies: the Green Deal, the Energy Union, the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) and the Sustainable Blue Economy Strategy. The nascent status of the MRE sector and Wave Energy (WE) in particular, yields many unknowns about its potential environmental pressures and impacts. Wave Energy Converters’ (WECs) operation in the marine environment is still perceived by regulators and stakeholders as a risky activity. The complexity of MRE licensing processes is also indicated as one of the main barriers to the development of the sector. The lack of clarity of procedures, the varied number of authorities to be consulted and the early stage of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) implementation are examples of the issues identified that may delay the permitting of the projects. Finally, there is also a need to provide more information on the sector to the general public. Only with an informed society would be possible to carry out fruitful public debates on MRE implementation at the local level. These non-technological barriers that could hinder the future development of WE in EU were addressed by the WESE project funded by EMFF in 2018. The present project builds on the results of the WESE project and aims to move forward through the following specific objectives: Development of an Environmental Research Demonstration Strategy based on the collection, processing, modelling, analysis and sharing of environmental data collected in WE sites from different European countries where WECs are currently operating (Mutriku power plant and BIMEP in Spain, Aguçadoura in Portugal and SEMREV in France); Development of a Consenting and Planning Strategy through providing guidance to ocean energy developers and to public authorities tasked with consenting and licensing of WE projects in France and Ireland; this strategy will build on country-specific licensing guidance and on the application of the MSP decision support tools (i.e. WEC-ERA[1] and VAPEM[2] tools) developed for Spain and Portugal in the framework of the WESE project; the results will complete guidance to ocean energy developers and public authorities for most of the EU countries in the Atlantic Arch; Development of a Public Education and Engagement Strategy to work collaboratively with coastal communities in France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, to co-develop and demonstrate a framework for education and public engagement (EPE) of MRE enhancing ocean literacy and improving the quality of public debates. The project will finish in September 2023. In this contribution we present the main outcomes, results and lessons learnt during the project.Item Can risk-based approaches benefit future marine renewable energy deployment, planning and consenting processes?(European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC), 2023) Verling, Emma; Menchaca, Iratxe; Machado, Inês; Soulard, Thomas; O'Hagan, Ann Marie; Bald, Juan; European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive AgencyThe need to harness the vast energy resources of the oceans has led to a significant increase in the design, testing and deployment of novel technologies for Marine Renewable Energy (MRE). However, growth in this area has been slowed in part by several non-technological challenges, among them the ability to gain permissions to test and deploy installations. These consenting processes are often characterised by long bureaucratic procedures (with many authorities involved) and excessive environmental impact assessment studies, resulting in delays and additional costs to developers. One option which may help to release this block is to adopt a Risk-Based Approach (RBA) to energy consenting, whereby an assessment of risk is used in the decision-making process. The EU-funded SafeWAVE project (www.safewave-project.eu) has focussed on this possibility in France and Ireland, building on the work of an earlier EU-funded project, WESE (https://www.researchgate.net/project/Wave-Energy-in-the-Southern-Europe-WESE), in which similar work was undertaken in Spain and Portugal. Here we present some of the findings from these projects, in particular the process to work towards a set of guidance for the use of RBAs in MRE consenting processes. RBAs have already been used in the context of Marine Spatial Planning and Ecosystem-Based Management and have been found to be useful for interpretation of data from experts, indicators and ecosystem models. Indeed, a number of RBAs have also been developed that are appropriate for Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) consenting processes. A thorough review was undertaken of several recognised RBAs and common components were identified across five of the most useful and relevant of these. From these common components, a ‘stepwise process’ was formulated, specifically designed to be embedded into MRE consenting systems. This stepwise process has been constructed such that it can be presented to regulatory stakeholders in France and Ireland with a view to determining the feasibility of its implementation. Ultimately the outcome of these discussions will form the basis for the development of a guidance document on risk based, adaptive management consenting processes with recommendations on how the process can be taken forward and utilised by regulators, planners and developers. While the development of a prescriptive procedure is not feasible (due to the varying nature of the MRE installations devices themselves as well as differing environmental conditions and impacts where devices are deployed), there is scope for providing guidance to assist regulators in taking a robust and holistic risk-based approach. Such a set of guidelines could facilitate a broader understanding and thus the wider use of RBAs, which in turn has the potential to remove one significant barrier to progress in the field.Item Dynamic performance analysis of a 15 MW floating offshore wind turbine in the Ninh Thuan Offshore Area, Vietnam(Springer Nature, 2024-07-11) Pham, Thanh Dam; Nguyen, Hai Nam; Nguyen, Thanh Huyen; Van Toan, Du; Duc Long, Phung; Dung, Nguyen TienVietnam possesses significant untapped potential for offshore wind power, serving as a crucial catalyst for the nation’s transition toward sustainable energy sources. In addition to fixed offshore wind turbines, the implementation of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) holds immense promise in leveraging domestic supply chain resources. This research paper aims to explore the viability of FOWTs in the offshore areas of Vietnam. Specifically, a 15 MW offshore wind turbine mounted on a semi-submersible floating platform was chosen as the focus of this study, with the environmental conditions modeled based on the Ninh Thuan offshore area. The NREL OpenFAST code was employed to simulate the behavior of the FOWT systems, enabling a comprehensive analysis of their loads and overall performance.Item Production of advanced gaseous biomethane transport fuel in an integrated circular bioenergy system(Environmental Protection Agency, 2023-04) Kang, Xihui; Lin, Richen; Wu, Benteng; Dobson, Alan; Murphy, Jerry D.; Environmental Protection AgencyThis report proposes an anaerobic digestion (AD)-centred integrated circular bioeconomy system for the production of advanced fuels (biomethane or biomethanol), medium-chain fatty acids (such as caproic acid), biofertiliser and biochar (with potential application for negative emission technology).