Floating Offshore Wind

Capturing energy from offshore wind using floating foundations.

Offshore wind energy technologies harness kinetic energy from the wind to generate energy and transport that energy back to shore via a subsea export cable. The main advantage of offshore wind energy is access to stronger and more consistent winds, allowing for the use of larger turbines. The development of offshore wind in Europe and Asia has preceded development activities in other parts of the world; however, several projects in the United States are currently underway. Several floating offshore wind energy demonstrations exist throughout the world, but the technology is yet to be widely deployed.

Floating foundations are used at deep depths (40->1000m) and consist of a balanced floating substructure moored to the seabed with fixed cables. The substructure may be stabilized using buoyancy, mooring lines, or a ballast. Several designs for floating offshore wind substructures currently exist for various depth ranges, including barges, semi-submersibles, tension leg platforms, and single point anchorage buoys. These substructures are connected to one another via inter-array cables, which transport electricity generated from the turbine to floating offshore substations. High voltage export cables then transport the energy to shore. To better understand floating offshore wind, explore these videos from RWE.

The environmental concerns associated with offshore wind farms vary with foundation type. In general, collision risk with birds and bats is a major concern, though the impact is more difficult to quantify offshore because carcasses that provide evidence of collisions become lost at sea. As with all electricity generation, there is a slight concern that electromagnetic fields generated by power cables may affect animals that use Earth's natural magnetic field for orientation, navigation, and hunting. Although pile driving is one of the main concerns surrounding fixed offshore wind energy, floating projects can be constructed onshore and transported out to sea, reducing the impacts from construction-related noise and vessels. Floating foundation’s mooring lines may cause minor scouring or pose a risk of collision or entrapment, but the turbine foundation is mostly located in the upper layer of the water column where there tend to be less organisms.

Photo Credit: Joshua Bauer, NREL

Marine and Wind Energy Environmental Documents

Tethys is a knowledge hub that contains documents on the environmental effects of wind and marine energy. The table below contains all of the documents in the Tethys Knowledge Base associated with Floating Offshore Wind.

Total: 752

Searches title and abstract.
Title Author Date Content Type Technology Stressor Receptor
Shutting down offshore wind turbines during peak bird migration Rijkswaterstaat Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision Birds
Environmental benthos survey, Hywind Scotland Moskeland, T. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Physical Environment
What are the potential effects of the electromagnetic fields produced by offshore wind farm power cables on marine organisms? Henry, S., Carlier, A., Chauvaud, S. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind EMF Fish, Invertebrates
Do the metals released by galvanic anodes used in offshore wind farms pose a risk to the marine environment? Henry, S., Amouroux, I., Aragon, E. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Chemicals Physical Environment, Water Quality
Metabarcoding of sediment eDNA communities at the Hywind Scotland OWF – A pilot study Hestetun, J., Dahlgren, T. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change
Mapping Environmental Considerations for Marine Spatial Planning in Wales: Methodology Murray, L., Bloomfield, H., Skates, L. Report Marine Energy, Tidal, Wave, Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment
Guide to a floating offshore wind farm BVG Associates Guidance Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Physical Environment
Setting EU Threshold Values for continuous underwater sound Druon, J., Hanke, G., Casier, M. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals
Offshore Wind Energy and Seabird Collision Vulnerability in California Grover, W. Thesis Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Birds, Seabirds
Characterisation of underwater operational noise of two types of floating offshore wind turbines Risch, D., Favill, G., Marmo, B. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals
Towards Digital Twins of the Oceans: The Potential of Machine Learning for Monitoring the Impacts of Offshore Wind Farms on Marine Environments Schneider, J., Klüner, A., Zielinski, O. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Hudson South 2 E05 Bat and Bird Acoustic Analysis and Results Summary Normandeau Associates Inc Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Bats, Birds
Social Acceptance of a Reduced-Footprint Synthetic Mooring System for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines in the Gulf of Maine Green, R., MacDonald, S., Fuchs, R. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data
A Geospatial Analysis of Species of Interest in US Atlantic Wind Energy Areas O'Brien, B. Thesis Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Birds, Marine Mammals
New insights into the influence of turbines on the behaviour of migrant birds: implications for predicting impacts of offshore wind developments on wildlife Willmott, J., Forcey, G., Vukovich, M. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Avoidance, Habitat Change Birds
Magnetic Field Limit and Potential Impact of Offshore Wind Farm Submarine Cables in Ecosystems Li, X., Chen, J., Zhan, H. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind EMF Fish
Offshore Wind Energy and Marine Biodiversity in the North Sea: Life Cycle Impact Assessment for Benthic Communities Li, C., Coolen, J., Scherer, L. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Fish, Physical Environment
Projected cross-shore changes in upwelling induced by offshore wind farm development along the California coast Raghukumar, K., Nelson, T., Jacox, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Changes in Flow Ecosystem Processes, Physical Environment
Effective Stakeholder Engagement for Offshore Wind Energy Development: The State of New York's Fisheries and Environmental Technical Working Groups Brunbauer, M., Press, K., Williams, K. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Fisheries, Stakeholder Engagement
Supporting National Environmental Policy Act Documentation for Offshore Wind Energy Development Related Offshore Aquifers Middleton, P., Barnhart, B. Guidance Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Physical Environment, Human Dimensions
Socio-political acceptability of floating offshore wind farms in France: challenges and perspectives for marine governance towards sustainability Fofack-Garcia, R., Mazé, C., Safi, G. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Legal & Policy, Social & Economic Data
Public attitudes of offshore wind energy in Japan: An empirical study using choice experiments Iwata, K., Kyoi, S., Ushifusa, Y. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data
Monitoring Framework for Automated Radio Telemetry at Offshore Wind Projects in the U.S. Atlantic Loring, P., Carlson, E., Gobeille, D. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Bats, Birds
Monitoring of Marine Life During Offshore Wind Energy Development—Guidelines and Recommendations Kershaw, F., Jones, A., Folsom-O’Keefe, C. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Bats, Birds, Ecosystem Processes, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment, Reptiles, Human Dimensions
Fisheries and Offshore Wind Interactions: Synthesis of Science Hogan, F., Hooker, B., Jensen, B. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Fish, Invertebrates, Human Dimensions, Fisheries, Social & Economic Data
Stakeholder Engagement in California Offshore Wind: A Summary from CLEE’s 2022 Convenings and a 2023 Outlook Hoff, K., Segal, K. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Fisheries, Stakeholder Engagement
Opportunistic Offshore Sighting of a Tricolored Bat (Perimyotis subflavus) Bort Thornton, J., Richlen, M., McDonald, T. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Displacement, Habitat Change Bats
Development of a computable general equilibrium model based on integrated macroeconomic framework for ocean multi-use between offshore wind farms and fishing activities in Scotland Qu, Y., Hooper, T., Austen, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Fisheries, Social & Economic Data
Wozep Ecological Programme: Update Wozep 2023 Offshore Wind Ecological Programme (Wozep) Presentation Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Changes in Flow, Noise Birds, Ecosystem Processes, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Cetaceans, Pinnipeds, Physical Environment, Sediment Transport
5th ScotMER Symposium: ScotMER Collaboration Marine Scotland Presentation Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions
Getting to 30 GW by 2030: Visual preferences of coastal residents for offshore wind farms on the US East Coast Cranmer, A., Broughel, A., Ericson, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data, Visual Impacts
On the importance of wind turbine wake boundary to wind energy and environmental impact Fan, Z., Li,S., Gao, Z. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Changes in Flow Human Dimensions
Floating Wind Power in Deep-Sea Area: Life Cycle Assessment of Environmental Impacts Yuan, W., Feng, J., Zhang, S. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Offshore Wind Evidence and Change Programme: Annual Report 2022 The Crown Estate Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Birds, Marine Mammals, Human Dimensions, Fisheries, Legal & Policy
5th ScotMER Symposium: Fish and Fisheries Marine Scotland Presentation Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Fish, Human Dimensions, Fisheries
Organic matter processing in a [simulated] offshore wind farm ecosystem in current and future climate and aquaculture scenarios Voet, H., Vlaminck, E., van Colen, C. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Changes in Flow, Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Invertebrates, Human Dimensions
The Use of eDNA to Monitor Pelagic Fish in Offshore Floating Wind Farms Dahlgren, T., Hestetun, J., Ray, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Fish, Pelagic Fish, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Minimizing habitat conflicts in meeting net-zero energy targets in the western United States Wu, G., Jones, R., Leslie, E. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes
Evidence that offshore wind farms might affect marine sediment quality and microbial communities Wang, T., Ru, X., Deng, B. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Physical Environment
Insights from the management of offshore energy resources: Toward an ecosystem-services based management approach for deep-ocean industries Bravo, M., Brandt, M., van der Grient, J. Journal Article Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Avoidance, Changes in Flow, EMF, Habitat Change, Noise Ecosystem Processes, Fish, Social & Economic Data
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