Algae farms in Offshore Wind Parks

REH: Dear Mr Wallies, can you tell us a bit about your professional background and the aim of the Win@Sea project?

Tim Wallies: “I originally come from the Netherlands and am a graduate of marine biology. I completed both my doctorate and my postdoc at DTU, the Technical University of Denmark. My specialist field was the ecological attributes of the port infrastructure in Vigo in northern Spain. The impact of offshore structures – whether oil and gas platforms or offshore wind farms – was already on my mind at the time.

The participants – Aarhus University, Vattenfall, DTU, the University of Copenhagen, the algae producer Kerteminde and the Kattegatcentre – are using the Win@Sea project, short for 'Wind Energy and Nature-based solutions integrated at sea’, to investigate how algae and mussels can thrive especially well in the foundations of offshore wind farms. Our PR campaign this summer with the US actor Samuel L. Jackson attracted lots of attention. His commercials advertise snacks made from algae – already commonplace in Asia, but still relatively new in Europe.”

REH: That sounds very unusual! Can you tell us about the backstory to this project?

Tim Wallies: “Sure, I’d love to. The basic premise is that offshore wind turbines will need to be dismantled going forward, which will present a challenge for many developers in the near future. Naturally, this poses the question: complete dismantling or only partial? What’s more, ecological criteria are becoming increasingly important in today's offshore tenders. If the wind farms are not dismantled, they could be used to grow algae and mussels as food. Doing so would transform offshore wind farms into multifunctional platforms.”

REH: Which wind farms are you investigating in particular? Can you outline the stiffest challenges?

Tim Wallies: “Actually we are looking predominantly at Kriegers Flak, the largest wind farm in Scandinavia, which is operated by Vattenfall 15 kilometres east of the island of Mon. The study also centres on Olamur, the larger Horizon project to which Win@Sea belongs, the Meerwind Süd wind farms near Helgoland, the first commercial German offshore wind farm and a fish farm in Estonia.

But it is no mean feat to cultivate algae and mussels on offshore wind farms. The weather conditions are very rough, with extreme winds and stormy seas. The algae could easily detach from their lines. There are also frequent incidents involving ships – sometimes maintenance vessels – or otherwise unknown objects at sea whose route we do not know in advance.”

REH: You already mentioned the advertising campaign with Samuel L. Jackson: is public relations a significant part of the Win@Sea project? What other activities are in the pipeline?

Tim Wallies: “Yes, definitely – we want to introduce this new topic to a wider audience. The Kattegatcentre organises festivals all about algae, which are very entertaining. Most people underestimate algae as a source of food. I find it delicious (smiles).”

Thank you very much for this very interesting and inspiring interview!