An Integrated Assessment Framework of Offshore Wind Power Projects Applying Equator Principles and Social Life Cycle Assessment

Abstract

This paper reviews offshore wind power project finance and provides an integrated assessment that employs Equator Principles, life cycle assessment, risk assessment, materiality analysis, credit assessment, and ISAE 3000 assurance. We have not seen any comprehensive review papers or book chapters that covers the entire offshore wind power project finance process. We also conducted an SWancor Formosa Phase 1 case study to illustrate the application of integrated assessment to better assist policymakers, wind farm developers, practitioners, potential investors and observers, and stakeholders in their decisions. We believe that this paper can form part of the effort to reduce information asymmetry and the transaction costs of wind power project finance, as well as mobilize green finance investments from the financial sector to renewable energy projects to achieve a national renewable energy policy.

Social Life Cycle Assessment Used in Indigenous Contexts: A Critical Analysis

“…As stated, and practiced by Sehlin MacNeil, relationships are valued and protected by respecting each other and the intellectual property shared which should also be reciprocal, research should not be extractive but mutually beneficial for both researcher and research participants [12] (pp. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. When research is conducted on rather than with Indigenous peoples, thus without adherence to Indigenous protocols ethics and methodologies, the results are rarely fully relevant to the Indigenous communities they impact [12,49].…”

“…We base the core of our evaluation of S-LCA on the UNEP S-LCA Guidelines from 2020 [1]. However, to further understand S-LCA we have reviewed several scientific articles [29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. These articles were first found through topic searches (including title, abstract, author keywords and keywords plus) on Web of Science using the keywords: "social life cycle assessment" AND wind; "social life cycle assessment" AND indigenous;…”

Exploring the Current Challenges and Opportunities of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

“…Recently, S-LCA is gaining much attention in the scientific community. It can be seen from the efforts proposed to advance the method (i.e., revisions on the current guideline, linking life cycle thinking to SDGs) and the different contexts of its application, including cutting-edge topics such as circular economy [26,27], renewable energy [28,29], and bio-based economy [30,31]. However, the gaps still exist when it is combined with other tools and it will be elaborated on more in Section 2.…”

Influence of Size on the Economic Feasibility of Floating Offshore Wind Farms

“…Some authors have considered the influence that noise has on the layout of an offshore farm [26], the environmental impacts [27,28], policies [29], evaluate the best offshore locations [30]; and to analyze the financing and risks of offshore wind [31] and other marine uses [32], or the influence of the compressed air energy storage in an offshore farm [33]. Others explain the influence of optimizing the site of wind turbines [34], but without considering offshore locations, or its electric lines [35].…”