The Ministry of Natural Resources issued a new policy on the management of offshore wind power use

On January 2, the Ministry of Natural Resources issued the Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Sea Use for Offshore Wind Power Projects.

The "Notice" requires that the layout of deep-water far shores be promoted. If it is a new offshore wind power project, it should be laid out in a sea area more than 30 kilometers offshore or with a water depth greater than 30 meters; If the water depth in the nearshore area exceeds 30 meters, the offshore distance of the wind farm shall not be less than 10 kilometers; If the width of the tidal flat exceeds 30 km, the water depth in the wind farm shall not be less than 10 m. The offshore distance is calculated according to the closest distance between the outer loop of the offshore wind farm and the coastline of the mainland (including the main island of Hainan Island and the islands where the people's governments at or above the county level are located), and the water depth is based on the shallowest water depth of the wind farm shown in the latest chart.

The "Notice" encourages the use of three-dimensional composite use. Under the premise of complying with territorial spatial planning and coordination of stakeholders, the construction of offshore wind power in developed and utilized sea areas such as offshore oil and gas development zones and deep-sea aquaculture areas that have obtained legal sea use procedures is encouraged. Encourage new offshore wind power projects to adopt the "wind power +" comprehensive development and utilization model to achieve "one sea for multiple purposes", and build a certain proportion of cage farming, marine ranching, offshore photovoltaic, wave energy power generation, hydrogen production, energy storage and other facilities through unified design and unified demonstration, so as to effectively improve the utilization efficiency of marine resources in offshore wind farm areas. Offshore wind power projects that have been approved are encouraged to be compounded within wind farms. After assessment and demonstration, if the safe use is not affected, the wind turbine tower can be built within the scope of the existing standard seawall or permanent embankment.

The "Notice" stated that the upgrading and transformation will be implemented in an orderly manner. Under the premise that the overall scope of the wind farm remains unchanged and the sea use plan is feasible, the existing offshore wind power project can be upgraded and transformed by means of unit expansion, wind turbine upgrade or wind turbine location optimization and adjustment, and go through the procedures for changing the sea use in accordance with the regulations. If the right to use the sea area of an existing offshore wind power project is not renewed after expiration, it shall dismantle the wind turbines, pile foundations, anchor chains, submarine cables and other sea-using facilities in accordance with the requirements of the Law on the Management of Sea Area Utilization and other relevant laws and regulations, restore the original state of the sea area, and avoid affecting other sea-using activities such as marine traffic.

The "Notice" makes it clear that the approval procedures for sea use will be optimized. Offshore wind power projects with a total sea use area of more than 700 hectares outside the provincial-level management sea area or cross-provincial management sea area must report to the State Council for approval, and it is strictly forbidden to exceed the authority, disperse the examination and approval, and reduce the approval to zero; Offshore wind power projects with a total sea use area of less than 700 hectares and within the sea area under provincial management and not involving cross-provincial sea areas shall be examined and approved by the people's governments at or below the provincial level in accordance with regulations。 For offshore wind power projects submitted to the State Council for approval, the Ministry of Natural Resources shall handle the pre-examination of sea use before the project is approved, and after approval, it shall be submitted to the Ministry of Natural Resources for formal sea use review in accordance with the procedures。

According to the "Notice", the market-oriented transfer of the right to use sea areas will be actively promoted. Coastal departments in charge of natural resources (oceans) at all levels should give full play to the decisive role of the market in the allocation of spatial resources in the sea area, and actively adopt a market-oriented approach to transfer the right to use the sea area of offshore wind power projects。 To strengthen coordination and cooperation with the competent energy authorities, it is necessary to adopt synchronous, joint or overall organization and implementation, etc., and do a good job in the connection between the market-oriented transfer of sea space use rights and the competitive allocation of projects within the scope of provincial management sea areas. Encourage coastal localities to innovate management mechanisms, explore the implementation of a "net sea transfer" system for new offshore wind power projects, and complete the cadastral survey of the area to be transferred, the demonstration and review of the use of sea area, the price assessment of sea area use rights, and the solicitation of opinions of relevant departments before carrying out the market-oriented transfer of sea area use rights for offshore wind power projects.