4POWER – Policies and Public-Private Partnerships for Offshore Wind Energy
Project information
Within the 4POWER project, experts from ten regions of nine EU member states engaged in an intensive dialogue on the regional policy dimensions of offshore wind energy development. The experts came from a variety of different organisations, including regional governments, regional economic development agencies, research institutions and the German Offshore Wind Energy Foundation.
The partners of the 4POWER project were the Province of Groningen (Netherlands), the Province of Rimini (Italy), the Sustainable Industries Institute at Dundee College (Scotland, UK), the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Government, Rostock Business and Technology Development GmbH (Germany), the Maritime Institute of Gdansk (Poland), the Azorina Society for Environmental Management and Nature Conservation (Portugal), the Municipality of Corfu (Greece), the Malta Intelligent Energy Management Agency, the City of Emden (Germany) and the German Offshore Wind Energy Foundation.
Project background
Offshore wind energy offers enormous potential as a renewable power source. The European Environmental Agency (EEA) has determined that it is economically feasible to generate 60 to 70% of the EU’s total energy demand from offshore wind energy by 2020. The regions involved play a decisive role in the further development of the offshore wind energy: firstly, for practical reasons (such as the landing of power cables in coastal regions) and secondly, because of the strategic and political importance of these regions (e.g. the promotion of economic networks).
While the offshore industry is experiencing significant technological advances, the political frameworks at regional and local levels in Europe remain fragmented. There are regions that are leaders in the offshore wind energy industry and others that also have ambitions in this direction. However, some of these regions do not yet have the necessary experience and knowledge to implement offshore wind energy projects in the short term.
Project goals
The 4POWER project promoted the exchange of knowledge between different European regions and aimed to create a common knowledge base on current and future regional challenges in offshore wind energy development. The project sought to provide an improved framework for the development of offshore wind energy in the involved regions by means of policy recommendations on EU legislation.
Project period and funding
The project ran from January 2012 to December 2014 and was funded as part of the European program INTERREG IVC.
Contact person
Dr. Dennis Kruse
d.kruse@offshore-stiftung.de