CET Lunch: SEAs of Uncertainty - An analysis of Impact Assessments for Norwegian Offshore Wind
Welcome to this CET Lunch seminar with Finn Corus, former CET Master student and research assistant at the University of Bergen.
SEAs of Uncertainty - An analysis of Impact Assessments for Norwegian Offshore Wind
Norway is planning to build its first commercial offshore wind farms. The construction of offshore wind farms will have various environmental impacts, and knowledge is limited. Therefore, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) was tasked with conducting strategic environmental impact assessments (SEA) for the three potential areas of development Vestavind B, Vestavind F and Sørvest F. These SEAs must deal with the existing uncertainties, available knowledge, and recommend which areas should be opened for development.
In this study I explore and characterise the key uncertainties in the SEAs for the three areas Vestavind B, Vestavind F and Sørvest F and detail how the uncertainties are handled. Uncertainties are identified through document analysis of NVE’s website on the SEAs and the expert reports on Benthic communities and habitats, Biodiversity in the water column and Birds, bats and insects. A 5-dimensional uncertainty matrix is used to characterise and typify uncertainty. A typology of strategies of handling uncertainty in SEAs is used to identify how uncertainty is dealt with. The analysis shows that large knowledge gaps exist, and only some dimensions of uncertainty are partly identified within the SEAs. Additionally, we see two patterns in the handling of uncertainty: a disappearance of uncertainty on the one hand side and an accumulation of uncertainty on the other.
About the speaker
Finn Corus completed his Master’s in Sustainability this spring, 2025 and was a CET Master student. He has been working as a research assistant at CET since August and is now a research assistant at SVT, UiB.