The Economics of an Integrated Offshore Wind Energy and Aquaculture Facility

This research evaluates the potential for integrating aquaculture production into an offshore wind energy setting from an economic perspective. Making use of prior research on engineering and biological considerations, industry interest, as well as an aquaculture feasibility assessment, this study incorporates economic data on offshore wind farming to fully characterize the economic feasibility of this concept. This multi-use concept is modeled in the German North Sea at the site of the future wind farm Nordergrunde, hosting a mussel (mytilus edulis) aquaculture firm. It employs economic and biological data to develop a discounted cash flow analysis of joint production, with specific emphasis on the extent of complementarities in production. Results suggest that the economic incentives to engage in this spatially integrated arrangement are highly skewed toward the aquaculture firm, though cooperation results in a Pareto improvement for both firms.