The European environmental regulation of marine renewable energies

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12317
• Published date: 01 April 2020
• Author: Carlos Soria‐Rodríguez
• Date: 01 April 2020

RECIEL. 2020;29:95–106.  

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  95wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/reel

1 | INTRODUCTION

The European Uni on (EU) agreed in 2007 to increas e its efforts to pro-

mote the development of renewable energy sources (RES) to meet the

‘20–20–20 targets’,1 which comprise the reduction of at least 20 percent

of greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels, a 2 0 percent

share of RES by 2020 and a 20 percent improvement in the EU’s ener gy

efficienc y. To help achieve these goals , the European Commission fos-

tered two typ es of marine renewable energ y (MRE),2 namely offshore

wind energy i n 20083 and ocean rene wable energy in 2014.4

Offshore wind energy refers to the wind energy generated in mari-

time spaces, wh ich constitutes the mo st widely used MRE due t o not

only the high avail ability and technologic al maturity compared to othe r

MRE technologies,5 but also to the p olicy support it has received . The

offshore win d energy capacit y installed6 in Europe has increased rapidly

from 801 megawat ts (MW) in 2006 to 18,499 MW at the end of 2018.7

A total of 4,543 t urbines in 105 wind farms i n 11 European countries

were installe d and grid-connected by the en d of 2018.8 Almost 98 per-

cent of all offsho re wind capacity in Eu rope is concentrated in f ive coun-

tries. The Uni ted Kingdom (UK) occup ies a leading position w ith

44 percent of all insta llations, followed by Germany (34 percent),

Denmark (7 perc ent), Belgium (6.4 percent) and the Net herlands

(6 percent).9

1 European Co uncil, ‘Presi dency Conclu sions’, 7224/1/07, REV 1 (2 May 2007 ).

2 The concept of M RE is generally u sed to refer to all ma rine-based re newables, in cluding

wind. Accord ing to a report by t he UN Secretar y-General , MRE can be defi ned as ‘a

subset of rene wable energ y involving natur al processes i n the marine envi ronment’;

UNGA ‘Repo rt of the UN Secre tary-Gen eral, Oceans an d the Law of the Sea ’ UN Doc

A/67/79 (4 April 2012) 4.

3 Commission ( EU), Offshor e Wind Energy : Action Neede d to Deliver on the E nergy

Policy Obje ctives for 2020 a nd beyond (Comm unication), COM (2008) 768 fina l

(Offshor e Wind Energy C ommunicatio n).

4 Commission ( EU), Blue Energ y Action Need ed to Deliver on th e Potential of Ocea n

Energy in Eur opean Seas and O ceans by 2020 and b eyond (Communi cation), COM(2 014)

8 final (Blue E nergy Commun ication).

5 MD Esteban et a l, ‘Why Offs hore Wind Energ y?’ (2011) 36 Renewab le Energy 44 4, 444.

6 Capacit y installed de scribes the ma ximum capaci ty that a system i s designed to run a t.

7 Wind Europe , ‘The Europea n Offshore Wi nd Industry – Ke y Trends and Statis tics 2017’

(2018) 17; Wind Europ e, ‘The Europe an Offshore W ind Industr y – Key Trends and

Statistic s 2018’ (2019) 11.

8 Wind Europe , ‘Key Trends and Stati stics 2018’ (n 7) 11.

9 ibid 18.

Received: 20 Jul y 2019 

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  Revised: 22 Septe mber 2019 

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  Accepted: 5 Decem ber 2019

DOI: 10 .1111/reel .12317

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The European environmental regulation of marine renewable

energies

Carlos Soria-Rodríguez

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Gar sington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Ma in Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA .

Correspondence

Email: Carlos.Soria.Rodriguez@vub.be The mar ine renewable energy (MRE) industry is growing exponentially in the

European Union (EU) due to, am ong other factors, it s potential contribution to miti-

gating climate change. However, there are negative environmental effects associated

with the developmen t of MRE that could compromise the prote ction of the marine

ecosystems. In this context, the EU requires environmental protection and sustaina-

ble growth for the de velopment of MRE. This article ide ntifies and analyses the main

features of the legal f ramework provided by the EU secondar y law instruments regu-

lating t he protection of the envir onment against the impacts of MRE and explores

options to strength en such protection. It argues that the fragmented and sectoral

legal framework is t heoretically capabl e of protecting the environme nt against the

impacts of MRE , but needs to be further develo ped, coordinated and specifie d to en-

sure protection in pr actice. The article also highlig hts that the consideration of MRE

as projects subject to compulsory env ironmental impact assessm ent (EIA) under the

EIA Directive and the consideration of key environmental obligations during the EIA

process could stre ngthen the ability of the legal f ramework to provide protection.