The influence of stakeholder groups in operation and maintenance services of offshore wind farms - Lessons from Denmark

One of the prime challenges in offshore wind is to manage and coordinate with the various stakeholders
involved in the operation and maintenance (O&M) phase. Therefore the aims of this paper are: i) to map
the stakeholder groups involved in O&M of Offshore Wind Farm (OWF), ii) to assess the identified
stakeholder group's interest and power to influence O&M, iii) to evaluate the relationship between
different stakeholder groups and iv) to highlight potential strategies to manage the stakeholder groups.
In this article, the stakeholder analysis approach is used. The results reveal that eleven key stakeholder
groups are directly involved in the O&M phase. Among those, the stakeholder groups named Investor/
owner, Turbine supplier, Operator's own technicians, Port facility and Vessel supplier are the most
powerful stakeholders. In contrast, Onshore service providers and Component suppliers are considered
less influential stakeholders. A friendly relationship exists between the governmental agency and the
owner of OWFs. The operators consider themselves as competitors. The operator-subcontractor relationship
is top-down. The relationship among the sub-contractors is complex because of the perception
of losing business if they cooperate with their competitors. From the sustainability point of angel,
achieving cooperative advantage is always preferable than competitive advantage.