Contribution to the Development of a New Value Chain in the Marine Renewable Energy Sector

Abstract

[Abstract]: As part of the commitments made in the NECP2030 for Portugal, an increase in wind capacity is planned, including an additional 10.4 GW onshore and 2 GW offshore. In this sense, it is necessary to assess the conditions for the creation of a new industrial value chain that will accelerate this development and offer attractive conditions for the involvement of the industrial sector, providing conditions for the objectives recommended in the NECP 2030 to be met. Projects OffshorePlan - Planning for the Use of Offshore Renewable Energies in Portugal, and OceanTrans - Ocean energy technologies transformative potential analyzed the relevant socio-economic component for this sector, namely the process of creating a new industrial value chain to support the development of marine renewable energies. As part of this research, a questionnaire survey was conducted targeting companies in sectors with complementary skills and resources, directly or indirectly related to the development of projects in this area. The questionnaire yielded 114 responses from companies already active and 182 from companies willing to become involved in the future. The results allowed us to obtain a global view of the actual and potential involvement of the industrial sector, as well as to gain some insight into how companies view the requirements to operate in this area and the main barriers to their performance. This article presents the main findings obtained in the scope of this research and discusses their contribution to the advancement of the marine renewable energy sector and, as such, to the development of offshore wind energy in Portugal.