The ESCo on offshore wind turbines: The effects of offshore wind farms on marine and coastal biodiversity and socio-ecosystems

Offshore wind farms play a key role in the drive to decarbonise the energy sector and thus in the ability of governments to ensure the energy sovereignty of their countries. As with any industrial use of equipment at sea, this new activity of course has an impact on biodiversity and marine and coastal ecosystems and the effects are the subject of a growing number of scientific publications. This is particularly the case in northern European countries where offshore wind energy development started several years ago.

The development of marine renewable energies clearly needs to integrate the preservation of biodiversity. In this context, the ESCo on Offshore Wind Farms aims to establish a state of the art and a critical summary of scientific knowledge based on the available scientific literature on the effects of offshore wind farms and their installations on marine and coastal environments and in all their dimensions. This ESCo will also specify whether knowledge acquired in another country can be transposed to the ecosystems of the French coasts. The expert review will highlight the effects of the various forms of pressure associated with offshore wind farms on all the physical and biological components of biodiversity and at different timescales. It will also highlight such effects on the associated marine and coastal socio-ecosystems that in turn have a feedback effect on biodiversity.

The Ifremer and CNRS will make sure the principles of competence, independence, impartiality and transparency are respected in work on this collective scientific expertise report which is scheduled to take two years from its start in November 2023. A multidisciplinary group of French and European researchers brought together on the basis of their scientific expertise are working on answering the central question through a study of several thousand publications. 

Photo credit : Adobe stock