1. DG MARE study to support Impact Assessment on the Marine Knowledge Presentation for the Marine Observation and Data Expert Group March
Michael Munk Sørensen
Tom Farrant
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

2. Agenda Introduction Marine licensing MSFD Offshore wind
Legal and governance issues
Innovation and reduction in uncertainty
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

3. Introduction
The objective is to provide background knowledge and analysis to contribute to the impact assessment that will follow the Green Paper on Marine Knowledge 2020.
The study built on the 2010 Impact Assessment of the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet).
The study cover seven key areas
Marine data in licensing process
Cost of data for Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)
Cost of data for offshore wind farms
Legal basis for Regulation or Directive
Innovation from marine data
Reduction in uncertainty
Options for Governance of EMODnet
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

4. Marine Licensing
Objective: To gain an understanding of current practices for marine licensing and data access/sharing
Status: Licensing authorities in all marine Member States and private operators from 5 marine sectors have been contacted and data collection is being finalised
Licensing: private sector operators
Marine operators have to pay for meteorological, bathymetric or geological data on for licence applications in a number of Member States, namely Germany, Norway, Denmark, Bulgaria, Sweden. In the other Member States for example Romania, France, Greece and Belgium operators access data for free
In cases where the data has been purchased the costs are small relative to the total costs of preparing the permit or licence
The benefit of cheaper or more accessible data is however limited
Several operators reported that they collect site-specific and high-quality data themselves even if there is marine data publicly available
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

5. Marine licensing Licensing: public authorities
10 of the 12 countries that responded demand operators to hand over marine data from licensed activities
Data hand-over requirement usually does not concern commercially sensitive data
Few Member States collect data in the INSPIRE format
Data is often made available for re-use upon request
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

6. Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)
Objective: To collect information on the costs to Member States in meeting the data collection requirements of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive
Status: Member States MSFD authorities in all coastal Member States have been contacted. Currently final answers on questionnaires are being collected
12 countries responded to MSFD questionnaire
Questionnaire was revised according to comments from DG ENV to provide more details on costs of data collection for the initial assessment
Most countries have only used existing data for initial reporting
Estimate of total data cost for initial reporting in 22 coastal MS and Croatia: Million €
Estimate of cost for existing and new monitoring programmes for the period : 64 Million €/year (cover only programmes specifically for MSFD)
Most data gaps were reported on: Underwater Noise, Habitats, Marine litter
Highest future costs expected from data on: Physical Features, Habitats, Functional Groups
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

7. Offshore wind
Objective: To collect information on the data costs for offshore wind farms until 2020
Replies from 6 operators were complemented by own research
Projected growth in offshore wind capacity until 2020: GW
Estimated data cost for 200 MW offshore wind farm: 5-6 Million €
The highest cost occurs in the planning and design phase, around 3 Million €
Average costs for the construction phase are 1 Million €
Average costs for operation phase are 2 Million €
There is high variation across Europe in these costs due to different legal requirements
This corresponds to total estimated costs for GW offshore wind capacity of Billion €
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

8. Governance
Aim The options for governance of the European marine Observation and Data Network is based on "Marine Knowledge Communication". A secretariat would:
Deliver an annual work programme to achieve a set of objectives
Negotiate approval of the work programme with a "governing board"
Implement the work programme in line with the Financial Regulation
Status: in the intermediate report the first assessment of the secretariat options were presented.
The work of the proposed secretariat was outlined.
The alternative governance options of the secretariat were identified.
Strength and weaknesses including monetary cost considerations are presented in the final report for each of the option and for the governance in general.
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

9. Governance – summary of findings
The management options addressed are:
Executive agency option/in-house option
Regulatory agencies
Joint initiatives
PPP's
Alternative fund disbursement options
General:
Financial regulation
Size of structure - 3 full-time staff would not justify own agency on Marine Knowledge
Management chain
Marginal costs - PPP governance solution would be limited by wish to make data available at marginal cost
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

10. Innovation & Reduced Uncertainty Objectives
Improved Marine Knowledge* has the potential to result in services that can:
reduce risks to aquaculture production
enable better assessment of risk for insurance companies
extend the coastal tourism season
progress the discover of new bio-economy products
reduce cost of offshore energy
Economic benefits of reduced uncertainty in the behaviour of the sea or the state of the seabed and marine life have been demonstrated in the following areas:
Optimisation of operations and maintenance for offshore structures
Protection of cables for offshore wind structures
Optimisation of ship route navigation through hydrographic data
* Such as historic / real-time data on parameters such as chemical pollution, non-native species, coastal erosion, storm intensity
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

11. Innovation & Reduced Uncertainty Methodology and limitations
Initial brainstorming of ideas
Desktop research on EC publications, research projects, academic articles
Drafting of case study examples
Interviews with specialists identified through desktop research
Incorporation of comments and finalisation
Limitations:
Largely based on existing documentation and studies
Extrapolations of specific quantitative examples based on assumptions
Specific examples that may not reflect the entire opportunities for sector
Specialists, whilst providing a sanity check of desktop research, do not necessarily represent the views of the entire sector
Challenge in isolating the particular impact of “improved marine knowledge” in the development of an innovation or sector
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

12. Innovation: selected examples
Ocean acidification impact on, e.g. shellfish production
Better understand impacts to assist in predicting / minimising ecosystem impacts
Need for stronger links between research and industry, time-series and real time monitoring data on behaviour of flora and fauna to changes in acidity
Economic costs of reduced mollusc production due to ocean acidification in the EU 15 (study scope at the time) are at least €75 million
Optimisation of turbine foundation design for offshore wind
Foundation costs can represent up to 40% of wind capital expenditure
Sharing of data from experimental offshore installations can help researchers validate new types of more cost-effective foundations
Minor design changes >> significant savings in construction schedule and costs
Better assessment of offshore energy yield
Knowledge gaps lead to underestimation of energy yield
Better predicting energy yield can have positive impact on investment case, more confidence in project financing, optimisation of site selection, and increase production
An early warning system to anticipate jellyfish blooms
Better understand behaviour and impacts, minimise damage to production
Mitigating impact of blooms and major fish kills could assist in avoiding annual losses of €84 million to production
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

13. Innovation: other examples (1/2)
New cage design: offshore aquaculture
Designs to withstand extreme weather events, protect against invasive species, production losses whilst keeping maintenance costs low
Improve certification process for offshore wind projects
Underwriters hesitant about extending certain coverage to innovative designs
Reliable nautical charts and e-navigation systems
Reduced insurance costs in shipping industry through improving assessment of risk
Eco-tourism offerings and public awareness raising
Mitigate the negative impact of increased tourism flow, through observation of movement of species, and their habitats.
Artificial reefs
Increase sustainable coastal tourism through surf and diving revenues
Protect marine species and therefore create potential dive and game fishing sites.
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

14. Innovation: other examples (2/2)
Better coastal management
Coastal protection will save on structural damage and insurance costs
Enable sustainable management of tourism growth, minimising impact.
New biotechnology discoveries
Companies looking for pharmaceuticals / enzymes to catalyse industrial processes need to know where to look.
Data to locate these organisms has the potential to unlock the economic potential associated with new discoveries.
Growth markets for algae resources
Localising natural algae resources and a more stable cultivation process of algae will maximise the benefits for potential growth markets.
Better understanding risks and opportunities of seabed mining
By improving our understanding of the seafloor ecosystem, reduce the risks of seabed mining and potentially lead to development of commercial deep sea mining sector.
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

15. Reduced Uncertainty Optimisation of cable protection for offshore wind
Reduce risk of damage in long term, reduce costs in installation phase, and for ongoing maintenance.
Need seabed mapping systems that accurately chart depth, topography, slope angles and seabed type
Direct-current cable failure, in one example, halted production for 10 weeks, resulting in lost earnings of around €145 million.
While cables make up 8% of investment, 80% of insurance enquiries refer to these systems.
Site accessibility to optimise offshore wind operations & maintenance
Better accessibility results in reduced downtime losses, avoidance of energy production losses, and potentially prevention of costly repairs.
Uplift in the wave height at which maintenance is possible could improve turbine availability from 80% to 90%, translating to a potential saving of £245,000 per 5MW turbine per year
Hydrographic data to assist optimising ship navigation routes
Improved hydrographic data coverage will positively benefit navigation safety and protection of the marine environment, among many other benefits
Lack of up-to-date charting and hydrographic survey data: in Europe, the most significant gaps are in the Mediterranean and Black Seas
Improved charts enable cost reductions through faster transit for ships, more direct routes, reduced insurance costs, avoidance of maritime accidents.
7 March
COWI POWERPOINT PRESENTATION