Marine Spatial Planning for Offshore Wind Firms: A Comparison of Global Existing Policies and Data for Energy System Storage

This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of existing global policies and data for offshore wind (OW) farms (OWFs) by exploring the performance of the United Kingdom (UK), Germany, China, Taiwan and the rest of the world based on chosen quantitative metrics (total installations, energy capacity, bathymetry, wind resources) and qualitative policy drivers (costs, installation regulations, taxation). This research adopts an explorative multi-case study design that involves analyzing quantitative and qualitative metrics of OW energy parameters for the UK, Germany, China, Taiwan and the rest of the world. The quantitative metrics include the total OW energy installations, bathymetric data, wind speed and direction data and OW energy capacity while the qualitative metrics include the policy changes on costs of installations, installation policies and taxation policies. As compared to the United Kingdom and Germany, China reported the highest number of installed OW energy farms between 2019 and 2023. The UK reported a gradual increase in the number of OWFs installed between 2019 and 2023. Taiwan has the lowest number of OWFs and wind energy capacity but ranks almost the same as China and the UK in terms of the bathymetric data and wind speed. Statistically significant correlation, (p ≤ 0.05), between the wind speed and the number of OWFs for all the countries. No statistically significant relationship between the bathymetric characteristics and the number of OW installations and wind energy capacity. Geographical factors, weather patterns and government policies play crucial roles in the successful installation and maintenance of OWFs.