The PLOCAN test-site facility is being used as scenario for a new scientific-technical mission aimed at monitoring underwater noise derived from the systematic offshore wind energy generation on marine ecosystems.
The activity is carried out within the framework of the EU’s project PURE WIND (Impact of sound on marine ecosystems from the generation of offshore wind energy), led by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), to which PLOCAN contributes with the deployment and operation of state-of-the-art fixed and mobile autonomous systems and platforms equipped with acoustic sensors, including VIMAS units (a fleet of marine vehicles available to ICTS-PLOCAN) for more efficient and sustainable monitoring to gather high-quality data series.
PURE WIND is a consortium of eleven multidisciplinary partners from seven countries, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, and Spain, whose aim is to address the impact of sound from offshore wind energy generation on marine ecosystems.
The project brings together acousticians, biologists, ecologists, oceanographers, and social scientists to expand knowledge of the radiating noise from these operations and their biological consequences and placing them in the appropriate regulatory contexts. From the acoustic side, key features of radiated noise from fixed and floating offshore wind farms will be quantified, to increase understanding and simulate cumulative effect of wind turbine clusters on radiated noise. This effort will also help identify sensitive habitats across different soundscapes.
Furthering the biological perspective, the project will identify how top predators use areas around operating offshore windfarms. The impacts of offshore windfarm noise on fish and zooplankton will also be studied. These efforts will advance knowledge of the effects of operational offshore windfarm noise across the food web. Harmonizing and combining acoustic and biological sides, PURE WIND will develop knowledge and tools for integration of all aspects of noise production and propagation from operational offshore windfarms to facilitate assessment of planned offshore windfarm expansion for spatial planning and environmental impact.
Finally, relevant learnings and best practices from EU and international experiences with fixed offshore wind development will be synthesized and translated for application in the development of policy, mitigation, and regulation of floating and future offshore wind development within (inter)national and EU frameworks. As part of the green shift, a substantial expansion in offshore windfarm infrastructure globally is expected. The data and approaches of the consortium will help facilitate this transition by providing knowledge necessary to minimize impacts of further industrialization of the offshore ecosystems on marine life.
The PURE WIND project is funded by the European Union’s Joint Programming Initiative for Oceans (JPI Oceans) under reference PCI2022-135007-2/MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR.
