An offshore wind union? Diversity and convergence in European offshore wind governance

Offshore wind megaprojects in European waters have significant carbon abatement potential and increasing their number is a policy goal for several European maritime nations. But experience has shown that governance of large-scale, commercial offshore wind development is not straightforward. It is found that in five EU member states, policy innovation intended to enable investment in offshore wind projects is leading to a convergence upon a distinctive European model of offshore wind governance. The European Union appears to play numerous roles in this process and further research into how offshore wind policy innovation propagates in the EU is warranted.Policy relevanceThe governance of offshore wind megaproject development places specific demands on several areas of policy. This article firstly provides an account of recent developments in how offshore wind governance functions in some of the most important offshore wind-using nations. Secondly, the discussion of the EU's role in shaping offshore wind governance will inform future debates about the proper role of the EU in enabling investment in these megaprojects. Thirdly, the fact that policy appears to be converging raises questions about how policy is transmitted between EU member states, the answers to which could be valuable to policy makers looking at other areas of energy governance. Finally, the observed trend of increasing centralization of decision-making should be of interest to policy makers mindful of the role of scale and decentralization in debates about energy governance.