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Photo: Stockfile/FIS
Combining offshore wind and aquaculture: first harvest at Kriegers Flak
DENMARK
Tuesday, August 13, 2024, 07:00 (GMT + 9)
With increasing competition for space in the sea, the cultivation of algae and mussels in the sea between marine wind turbines will likely become a reality in the future.
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A new study shows how it is possible to use offshore wind farms to produce food and at the same time meet the renewable wind energy needs of northern Europe.
The WIN@sea research collaboration between Danish universities, mussel and seaweed farmers, the Kattegatcentre and Vattenfall, successfully grows edible algae in lines within the perimeter of Vattenfall's Danish Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm, the largest in Scandinavia to date , located south of Zeeland.
“We have just collected the first algae. This is a great milestone. Farming algae and mussels has the potential to absorb nutrients from the marine environment and convert them into food. This gives us a unique possibility to improve the quality of the marine environment and at the same time produce healthy seafood,” says Annette Bruhn, WIN@sea project leader and senior researcher at the Department of Ecoscience at Aarhus University.
 “At Vattenfall we work for fossil freedom, but never at the expense of the marine environment. That's why we're working to find a way for our energy facilities to be used for more than just energy production. “We are solving the challenges and identifying the synergies of producing fossil-free electricity and sustainable food from the sea, in the same place and at the same time,” says Tim Wilms, biosciences expert at Vattenfall.
In addition to the cultivation of algae and mussels, the research collaboration also integrates marine environmental monitoring of the sea surrounding the Danish Kriegers Flak wind farm. The goal is to monitor the effects of the turbine foundations and surrounding artificial reefs on marine life in the area.
The freshly harvested seaweed will be used to make seaweed pasta and omelettes at the WIN@sea Family Ocean Cooking school.
Source: evwind.com
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