Abstract
This research focuses on evaluating the environmental impact of future offshore energy plants, which are recognized as a crucial component of a sustainable energy future. The study compares two offshore wind farms and a wave energy plant, using 1 kWh of electricity as the functional unit. The OpenLCA 1.10.3 software and the "NEEDS" database are used for conducting a comprehensive comparative analysis, revealing differences in impacts, operational modes, and designs between the identified offshore plants. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results are further analyzed to compare the environmental impacts of these energy plants.
The findings showed that both wind turbines have significant impacts, with the 2496MW wind turbine farm exhibiting even higher impacts due to its design, mode of operations, and construction. Furthermore, the study compares the selected wind farms and wave energy plant considering different design and operational scenarios including realistic-optimistic, very optimistic, and pessimistic. The results indicated that electricity generated from wave energy has the highest impact on most indicators, except for ozone depletion and territorial ecotoxicity.