On 22 September 2020, the SUBMARINER Network for Blue Growth EEIG organised an online discussion workshop ‘Offshore Energy and Maritime Spatial Planning’, on behalf of the Capacity4MSP project, together with WindEurope, EUSBSR Priority Area Energy, Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP) Renewable Energy Working Group, Vattenfall, and German and Estonian offshore wind energy associations.

This interactive 3-hour long workshop with 60 attendees supported the exchange between the public authorities responsible for maritime spatial planning, offshore wind energy authorities, environmental NGOs and the offshore wind industry.

Four distinctive sessions provided an opportunity for discussion and the exchange of insights on the topics that were identified as relevant by public authorities and industry:

1. Maritime spatial planning (MSP) addressing the national renewable energy targets;
2. Spatial planning criteria for offshore cables – interactions with other sectors, with land interconnectors and across borders;
3. Co-location & multi-use of space between the offshore wind farms and other uses – the need for a collaborative approach to policymaking;
4. Offshore wind environmental impacts (positive and negative).

The ‘Offshore Energy and Maritime Spatial Planning’ workshop provided a platform to discuss what the role of MSP is in ensuring that these future offshore wind energy targets are met and to clarify what approaches may be suitable in which circumstances. Given that the Baltic Sea countries are at different stages of MSP and offshore wind development and are taking different planning approaches, the workshop was also an opportunity to highlight some key lessons learned for countries that are just starting to plan their offshore wind energy (OWE), as well as to highlight some of the key industry needs.

Find the workshop presentations here.

Scroll down to read full report from the workshop.