The Dutch government is exploring the potential of offshore solar as an addition to the Netherlands’ renewable energy generation plans. In this context, this report presents an exploratory social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA), which incorporates the societal impacts of investing in offshore solar.
The analysis shows that only one of the six variants results in a positive net social benefit. In this variant, offshore solar replaces onshore solar, meaning that offshore solar not only contributes to renewable energy generation but also frees up valuable land onshore. This leads to a positive welfare balance of more than EUR 700 million.
Based on these results, offshore solar appears to be particularly attractive when it can be used to avoid the need for a large number of new onshore solar projects to meet electricity demand. In this way, societal benefits can mainly be achieved through a reduced need for grid reinforcement and a more efficient use of land for alternative purposes. It is important that in policy decisions, uncertainties related to, among other things, costs and land use are taken into account.