Vattenfall and its partners in the WIN@sea project are preparing to harvest the first seaweed grown at the Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm in Denmark. After the harvest, scheduled for this Spring, the seaweed will be analysed for its quality as a foodstuff.
Win@Sea, including Vattenfall, Aarhus University, the Danish Technological University, the University of Copenhagen, the seaweed and mussel producer Kerteminde Seafarm, and the Kattegat Centre, announced plans to investigate how to produce offshore wind power and sustainable food in March 2023.
The project partners planted the seaweed in Autumn 2023 and this year, besides harvesting the seaweed, the team will also be setting lines for growing mussels.
The WIN@sea team also plans to perform an in-depth assessment of cod stocks in the area in and around the offshore wind farm. After the summer holidays, several recreational fishermen and researchers will venture out to the offshore wind farm, where they will count, measure and weigh part of the cod stocks in the area of the wind farm, according to Vattenfall.
“In Vattenfall we are working for fossil freedom, but not at the expense of biodiversity. That’s why we are working to find a way for our energy installations to be used for more than fossil-free energy generation alone. There is untapped potential in the areas between the offshore wind farms, and we are pleased to be learning so much about how we can activate these areas to help promote and preserve biodiversity,” said Tim Wilms , Bioscience Expert at Vattenfall.
The company’s Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm is located in the Danish Baltic Sea, between 15 and 40 kilometres from the coast. With 72 Siemens Gamesa’s 8 MW wind turbines and an installed capacity of 605 MW, it is currently the largest Scandinavian offshore wind farm.
The wind farm, in operation since 2021, is capable of producing enough electricity to meet the annual consumption of 600,000 Danish households.