Multi-criteria decision-making for offshore wind farm decommissioning: Lessons from the oil and gas sector

Shahin Jalili, Samuel R. Cauvin, Marcin Kapitaniak and Richard Neilson

Applied Energy, 2025, vol. 399, issue C, No S0306261925012590

Abstract: The current decision-making process for offshore wind farm (OWF) decommissioning projects in the UK continental shelf (UKCS) is primarily based on the economic aspects. It aims specifically to secure an appropriate form of financial guarantee from developers to ensure they can finance the decommissioning and that assets will not be abandoned on the seabed at the end of their operational lifetime. However, OWF decommissioning projects have environmental, technical, safety, and societal impacts, hence necessitating the development of a multi-criteria decision-making approach. This study proposes a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework, adapted from the comparative assessment (CA) process used in the oil and gas (O&G) decommissioning sector, in which the economic, environmental, and safety criteria are considered to evaluate each decommissioning option. To assess these, bottom-up impact assessment formulations are developed in which detailed site-specific and operational parameters are considered. The Gunfleet Sands OWF in the North Sea is assessed as an exemplar decommissioning case study. The results produced by the proposed MCDM framework are visualised using an immersive marine simulator, which serves as an effective stakeholder engagement platform for OWF decommissioning projects. The study offers valuable insights into the sustainability, safety, and financial implications of various OWF decommissioning scenarios.

Keywords: Offshore wind farm; Decommissioning; Oil and gas; Multi-criteria decision-making; Marine simulator (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261925012590
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:399:y:2025:i:c:s0306261925012590

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.126529

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().