With the increasing competition for space at sea, seaweed and mussel farming in the sea between the mighty offshore wind turbines will likely become reality in the future.
A new study shows how it is possible to use offshore wind farms to produce food, while meeting the renewable energy needs of northern Europe.
The WIN@sea research collaboration between Danish universities, mussel and seaweed producers, the Kattegatcentre and Vattenfall, successfully cultivates edible seaweed on lines inside the perimeter of Vattenfall's offshore windfarm Danish Kriegers Flak, the largest one in Scandinavia to date, located south of Zealand.
"We have just harvested the first seaweed. This is a big milestone. Cultivation of seaweed and mussels has the potential to take up nutrients from the marine environment and turn it into food. This gives us a unique possibility to improve the quality of the marine environment, while at the same time producing healthy seafood," says WIN@sea Project leader & Senior Researcher, Annette Bruhn from the department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University.
"At Vattenfall we work for fossil freedom, but never at the expense of the marine environment. That's why we are working to find a way for our energy installations to be used for more than just production of energy. We are solving the challenges and identifying the synergies of producing fossil-free electricity and sustainable food from the sea in the same place at the same time," says Tim Wilms, Bioscience expert from Vattenfall.
In addition to the cultivation of seaweed and mussels, the research collaboration is also integrating marine environmental monitoring of the sea surrounding the Danish Kriegers Flak windfarm. The purpose 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 seaweed tortillas at the WIN@sea Family Ocean Cooking school.
Read more First seaweed from wind farm Kriegers Flak harvested this spring - Vattenfall
For more information contact Rasmus Helveg Petersen, Head of Communication, Vattenfall Denmark.
