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 optimising 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”.

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 practise 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 Matthieu Povidis-Delefosse.

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 metres and where the waves can be up to 6 metres high.