The large scale impact of offshore wind farm structures on pelagic\n primary productivity in the southern North Sea

Abstract

The increasing demand for renewable energy is projected to result in a\n40-fold increase in offshore wind electricity in the European Union by 2030.\nDespite a great number of local impact studies for selected marine populations,\nthe regional ecosystem impacts of offshore wind farm structures are not yet\nwell assessed nor understood. Our study investigates whether the accumulation\nof epifauna, dominated by the filter feeder Mytilus edulis (blue mussel), on\nturbine structures affects pelagic primary productivity and ecosystem\nfunctioning in the southern North Sea. We estimate the anthropogenically\nincreased potential distribution based on the current projections of turbine\nlocations and reported patterns of M. edulis settlement. This distribution is\nintegrated through the Modular Coupling System for Shelves and Coasts to\nstate-of-the-art hydrodynamic and ecosystem models. Our simulations reveal\nnon-negligible potential changes in regional annual primary productivity of up\nto 8% within the offshore wind farm area, and induced maximal increases of the\nsame magnitude in daily productivity also far from the wind farms. Our setup\nand modular coupling are effective tools for system scale studies of other\nenvironmental changes arising from large-scale offshore wind-farming such as\nocean physics and distributions of pelagic top predators.\n