IMIS - Marine Onderzoeksgroepen

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 windturbine 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. Harmonising 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.