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When renewable energy and an improved marine environment go hand in hand

March 17th, 2023
When renewable energy and an improved marine environment go hand in hand
Vattenfall owns and operates the wind farm at Kriegers Flak. The park is Scandinavia's largest and has been in operation since 2021. The park's 72 turbines produce up to 605 mW, equivalent to the power consumption of 600,000 households. Credit: Vattenfall

Denmark is surrounded by sea offering excellent conditions for wind energy. A broad political majority will exploit this to create more fossil-free energy. Therefore, over the next seven years, Denmark's energy production from offshore wind will—as a minimum—be quadrupled.

At the same time, there is a growing demand for food with a low environmental footprint, and this can be produced at sea—in the form of mussels and seaweed.

It is well-known that the marine environment is under strong pressure. So—will it be possible to solve some of the challenges regarding fossil-free production of energy and sustainable food and the marine environment at the same time?

A collaborative project will answer this question when Aarhus University, the energy company Vattenfall, Technical University of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, the seaweed and mussel producer Kerteminde Seafarm and the Kattegatcentre join forces to develop a model for how to combine offshore wind farms, seaweed and mussel production and environmental monitoring in the same marine area.

Great demand for space at sea

There is a great demand for space at sea for fishing, shipping, wind farms, raw materials extraction, aquaculture, and infrastructure for power, gas and data, and for recreational activities. At the same time there is an international call for more Marine Protected areas—also in the open sea.

"It is our goal to create a so-called 'multi-use platform' where we produce energy and food in the same marine area, while simultaneously investigating the effects on the marine environment and biodiversity in that area. Developing multi-use can make it possible to exempt other marine areas from activities," says senior researcher Annette Bruhn, Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, who is heading the new partnership.

It is obvious to combine the offshore wind farms with the production of seaweed and mussels, but energy companies also focus on efficient operation of the wind farms.

"Renewable energy companies have traditionally focused on optimizing the production of fossil free energy, but we see an increasing focus on contributing positively to biodiversity. Therefore, one of the main objectives of the project is to identify both the challenges and the opportunities that arise when offshore wind farms are combined with other activities," says Annette Bruhn.

The newly started project has been named WIN@sea, which is an abbreviation of "Wind Energy and Nature-based solutions integrated at sea".

An investment in the future

The activities will take place at the Danish offshore wind farm Kriegers Flak, which is located east of the Danish island of Møn and is operated by the energy company Vattenfall.

Vattenfall's purpose is to enable fossil-free living future with the power of renewables, but also to support the development of sustainable practice across sectors.

Large stones are arranged around the wind turbines to protect against erosion of the area around the turbines. These stones also act as artificial reefs, and the project will generate knowledge about which type of biodiversity is linked to the artificial hard-bottom habitats that the turbine towers and the stones together provide.

"As wind turbines at sea cover larger and larger areas, it makes very good sense for us to look at how the areas can be used for several purposes. Therefore, we have decided to invest both time and money in the groundbreaking project WIN@sea," says marine biologist Matthieu Povidis-Delefosse from Vattenfall.

"At Vattenfall, our purpose is to create a fossil-free future, but it must not be at the expense of the environment. We are working towards ensuring that our projects contribute positively to biodiversity. If offshore wind farms can also be used to grow seaweed and mussels, we can remove nutrients from the sea water in which they grow. This will extend the positive effects of wind farm for the society," says Povidis-Delefosse.

No off-the-shelf items

There are no easy solutions when you grow seaweed and mussels at sea. Depth, bottom conditions, currents and waves vary, and the cultivation systems must therefore be tailored to fit the local conditions.

In WIN@sea, the company Kerteminde Seafarm, together with the researchers involved in the project, will study which systems function best in the exposed marine area near Kriegers Flak, where the depth is more than 20 meters and where the waves can be up to 6 meters high.

Provided by Aarhus University

Citation: When renewable energy and an improved marine environment go hand in hand (2023, March 17) retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://sciencex.com/wire-news/440497676/when-renewable-energy-and-an-improved-marine-environment-go-hand.html
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