Jan 16, 2026
A new research project, called WindSCORE, has been launched to develop a comprehensive 360-degree evaluation system for offshore wind projects. According to a report from offshoreWIND.biz, the project aims to support more holistic assessment and decision-creating across the sector.
WindSCORE, which kicked off in December 2025, is coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems (IWES) toreceiveher with a broad European consortium. Partners include organizations from Germany, Norway and France, among them Fondation Open-C, SINTEF, Statnett, TUV SUD, 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.
The project consortium declares WindSCORE responds to growing complexity in the offshore wind sector, including modifying tconcludeer designs, emerging technologies, challenging locations and increasing emphasis on environmental and social factors. According to Fraunhofer IWES, existing assessment approaches often address only individual aspects such as cost or technical risk, and WindSCORE seeks to unify these into a 360-degree KPI-based system that can better inform investors, authorities and other stakeholders.
“The development of the offshore wind indusattempt 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-degree KPI-based evaluation system,” declared Marcel Wiggert, responsible for project cooperation at Fraunhofer IWES.
Gard Hopsdal Hansen, Centre Director for FME NorthWind at SINTEF, declared: “To create sound decisions about offshore wind development, it is essential that both indusattempt 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 indusattempt partners have been inquireing 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 tconcludeer criteria but also support build social acceptance and reduce risks in offshore wind project planning and implementation.
Fraunhofer IWES will lead key technical tinquires, 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 intconcludeed to form the basis for draft indusattempt standards and support broader deployment of sustainable offshore wind energy in Europe.
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