Offshore wind farms can make a positive contribution to marine biodiversity by providing shelter for fauna in relatively busy coastal areas, according to a new report.
A team of researchers from the Netherlands has studied the short-term ecological effects of a wind farm in the North Sea and say that offshore wind farm structures can provide new 'natural' habitats for organisms such as anemones, crabs and mussels that live on the sea bed.
The researchers, from IMARES, Bureau Waardenburg and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, studied the OWEZ offshore wind farm near Egmond aan Zee. Their research revealed little effect during the first few years on the benthic organisms in the sandy areas between the wind turbines.
The biodiversity of the area increased, however, as new species were able to establish themselves on the wind turbine piles and the rocks piled around the columns. The wind farm provided shelter for some fish species, and the researchers found that some bird species tended to avoid the wind farm while others didn’t.
The number of bird strikes was not determined.
The research was funded by NoordzeeWind, a joint venture of Nuon and Shell Wind Energy. It aim was to determine the impact on marine biodiversity of wind farms characteristics such as hard structures and substrates, rotating wind turbine blades, underwater noise and the absence of human activities such as fishing.
This research and other studies elsewhere indicate that the impact of a wind farm depends on its location and the depth of the surrounding sea.
The location of the OWEZ wind farm is favourable for fauna because of the relatively low number of birds flying through the area and the fact that it is in a busy Dutch coastal zone and therefore provides shelter from human activities such as fishing and shipping.
The researchers have suggested that special areas should be designated for offshore wind farm development to minimise impacts on bird populations.
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