WindSCORE Initiative Developing ‘360-Degree’ Evaluation Toolbox for Offshore Wind Projects

A new research project, called WindSCORE, has been launched to develop a comprehensive 360-degree evaluation system for offshore wind projects. According to the WindSCORE partners, the project aims to support more holistic assessment and decision-making across the sector.  

WindSCORE, which kicked off in December 2025, is coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems (IWES) together with a European consortium that includes partners from Germany, Norway and France: Fondation Open-C, SINTEF, Statnett, TÜV SÜD, Bio-Littoral and Equinor.

The project is co-funded under the EU’s Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP) by national organisations including Germany’s PTJ/BMWE, France’s RPL and Norway’s RCN.  

Over the next three years, WindSCORE will create a scientifically grounded toolbox that integrates economic, technical, sustainability and social criteria into a single evaluation framework for offshore wind developments.  

WindSCORE responds to growing complexity in the offshore wind sector, including changing tender designs, emerging technologies, challenging locations and increasing emphasis on environmental and social factors, the project consortium says.

Existing assessment approaches often address only individual aspects such as cost or technical risk, and WindSCORE seeks to unify these into a 360° KPI-based system that can better inform investors, authorities and other stakeholders, according to Fraunhofer IWES.

”The development of the offshore wind industry is a central pillar of the energy transition. To ensure long-term social, political, and economic acceptance and minimize risks in the value chain, the WindSCORE project is developing a transparent, comprehensible 360° KPI-based evaluation system”, said Marcel Wiggert, responsible for project cooperation at Fraunhofer IWES.

Gard Hopsdal Hansen, Centre Director for FME NorthWind at SINTEF, said: “To make sound decisions about offshore wind development, it is essential that both industry and public authorities have access to tools capable of untangling the complexity of offshore wind and providing the most holistic picture possible of the opportunities and challenges for nature and society. This is something many of our industry partners have been asking for.”

In practical terms, WindSCORE will incorporate a range of indicators, from sustainability and technical innovation (including floating wind) to system integration, operations and maintenance efficiency, and social impacts such as regional value creation. The aim is to not only improve tender criteria but also help build social acceptance and reduce risks in offshore wind project planning and implementation.  

Fraunhofer IWES will lead key technical tasks, including site analysis, modelling electricity costs and life-cycle evaluations, while partners contribute expertise from grid operations to socio-economic and ecological assessment. The final output is intended to form the basis for draft industry standards and support broader deployment of sustainable offshore wind energy in Europe.

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