Chemical emissions from offshore wind farms
From identification to challenges in impact assessment and regulation
Abstract
Offshore wind energy may offer many advantages: next to the aim of renewable energy production, offshore wind farms (OWFs) enable multi-purpose opportunities with nature conservation and aquaculture. OWFs may also affect the marine ecosystem. The environmental impact of OWFs is starting to be investigated regarding the effect of novel habitat introduction, underwater noise, electromagnetic fields, or exclusion of fisheries. However, the impact of chemical emissions from OWFs remains largely unknown. It is essential to account for these emissions at an early stage, to comprehensively assess the environmental impact with the objective of developing a future fit-for-purpose regulatory framework to protect the marine environment. This review compiled a literature-based list of potential OWF-related chemical emissions containing >200 organic and inorganic contaminants, including polymers. Compounds are categorised according to data source and emission type. Major gaps in assessing the impact of the compounds are identified, including challenges in environmental monitoring, numerical modelling and assessing the toxicity of individual and mixtures of chemical contaminants on marine organisms and humans consuming potential OWF aquaculture products. A risk-based prioritisation is essential to target the compounds of higher concern and overcome costs linked to assessing a wide variety of chemical contaminants. Although some countries have regulations to reduce OWF chemical emissions, standardized impact assessments or monitoring requirements for OWF-based chemical contaminants have not been established. This stresses the importance of providing more detailed information on occurrence, distribution and impact of OWF chemical emissions as an essential step towards sound ecosystem-based management of OWF installations.
Details
- Organisation(s)
-
Coastal Research Centre
- External Organisation(s)
-
Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH)
Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer (Ifremer)
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research - NIOZ
Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA)
Norsk Marinteknisk Forskningsinstitutt AS (Marintek)
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
DERAC consultancy
Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE)
Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS)
Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht Centre for Materials and Coastal Research
Technical University of Denmark
Plant Sciences Unit
WavEC - Offshore Renewables
Bureau of Reclamation
- Type
- Review article
- Journal
- Marine pollution bulletin
- Volume
- 215
- ISSN
- 0025-326X
- Publication date
- 06.2025
- Publication status
- Published
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oceanography, Aquatic Science, Pollution
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 14 - Life Below Water
- Electronic version(s)
-
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.117915 (Access:
Open
)
