Speaker
Description
The co-location of aquaculture with offshore wind farms is seen as a promising strategy for the expansion of both industries. Their co-location can offer several advantages, such as optimizing marine spatial use and offering the possibility of shared infrastructure. However, it also presents several challenges, including regulatory hurdles, permitting delays, and conflicting operational schedules. One overlooked aspect in the literature is the effect of offshore aquaculture systems on scour around nearby bottom-fixed wind turbine foundations. Previous studies on the wake effects of offshore aquaculture systems have reported reductions in surface flow velocity of up to 90%, the formation of undercurrents, and wave height reductions of up to 30%. This study investigates the impact of three different offshore aquaculture systems (semi-submersible cage, bottom-fixed cage, and seaweed longline system) on scour and scour protection design for nearby bottom-fixed wind turbines, using an idealized case study in the North Sea (Horns Rev 3). Here, two scour protection design methodologies (static and dynamic) were studied. The results suggest that positioning an aquaculture system upstream of the main wave and current direction can reduce the required stone size for static scour protection by up to 65% and for dynamic scour protection by up to 40%.
