Logistics of offshore wind: A multicriteria analysis of ports. The case of study of Spanish ports

Abstract

[Abstract] The expansion of marine renewable energy faces numerous logistical constraints, with ports being the main bottleneck for its deployment today. That is why this study aims to assess the suitability of ports to support the deployment of offshore wind energy, considering different levels of port requirements imposed by offshore wind energy platforms. Three multi-criteria analysis methods (the weighted sum method, the technique for order preferences by similarity to ideal solution and the analytic hierarchy process) are used as the methodology, and criteria such as infrastructure, connectivity, layout, metocean conditions, operative, facilities, know-how, investment, socioeconomic and sustainability factors are evaluated. The weighting of these criteria is obtained from a survey of experts from academia, private companies, and public administrations in the offshore wind sector. The analysis is applied to the Spanish port system and to two types of platforms with different draft requirements. It concludes that the main bottlenecks are storage space both on land and at sea and the draft of the docks. Furthermore, it determines that most Spanish ports do not meet the requirements to carry out all phases of the offshore wind farm life cycle. The ports of Huelva (South-West of Spain), Barcelona (North-East of Spain), Bilbao (North-West of Spain), and Puerto Exterior de Ferrol (North-West of Spain) are ideal for constructing, assembling, and doing basic maintenance the platforms. The best ports for carrying out the integration of the platforms and the replacement maintenance of their components are the Puerto Exterior de Ferrol (North-West of Spain), Bilbao (North of Spain), Puerto Exterior de A Coruña (North-West of Spain) and Las Palmas (Canary Islands).