The influence of stakeholder groups in operation and maintenance services of offshore wind farms: Lesson 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.