Call for better monitoring and mitigation of offshore wind turbines

As the need for renewable energy increases, offshore wind farms are playing a pivotal role in the transition to net-zero but their rapid global expansion poses significant challenges for ocean ecosystems.

A new study published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity has examined current knowledge of offshore wind farm impacts, highlighting the direct and indirect ecological effects.

This latest research, led by Plymouth Marine Laboratory in collaboration with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and University of Portsmouth, cites the need for stronger regional and international coordination to ensure consistent assessment, monitoring and mitigation of offshore wind impacts across their full life cycle, from construction to decommissioning.

Co-author Professor Gordon Watson, from the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Marine Sciences, said, "Implementing the recommendations of our review requires close stakeholder collaboration, but will help ensure biodiversity considerations are fully integrated into the planning, operation and decommissioning stages of offshore energy generation."

The conclusions drawn from the review set the foundations for offshore energy projects to both protect and positively promote the natural environment by balancing decarbonization with the restoration and defense of marine biodiversity.

Global offshore wind capacity is projected to nearly triple by 2030, from 117GW in 2023 to at least 320GW. Expansion is occurring across 158 countries, with the largest potential for future capacity growth identified in Europe (495 GW), Asia (292 GW) and the Americas (200 GW).

Without coordinated governance and biodiversity safeguards, the push for renewable energy could undermine international commitments under the UN Ocean Decade, the Convention on Biological Diversity and Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water).

Dr. Stephen Watson, lead author on the study and Senior Ecosystem Services Scientist at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, said, "Offshore wind is vital for achieving net-zero goals but it must not come at the cost of ocean health. Our review shows that its impacts on biodiversity are mixed; turbines can create new habitats but also disturb species. Major evidence gaps also remain around floating wind farms and decommissioning. Closing these gaps is critical to ensuring offshore wind is both climate-positive and biodiversity-positive."

While several reviews over the past decade have concluded that offshore wind farm development has overall negative impacts on biodiversity, the review reveals a more complex picture. Biodiversity responses vary widely across species, regions and life-cycle stages, making it difficult to identify clear global trends from the current body of evidence.

Key findings of the latest paper include:

• Dual ecological impacts: offshore wind farms create both risks and opportunities for marine life. Construction noise, habitat disturbance, physical barriers and entanglement can harm biodiversity, while turbine structures can also act as artificial reefs, providing new habitats that may enhance local biodiversity.
• Lifecycle implications: offshore wind farms influence marine ecosystems across their entire lifecycle, from construction and operation to decommissioning. Effects span fish, invertebrates, seabirds and marine mammals, altering food webs and displacing fisheries, while at the same time offering potential refuge for some marine organisms.
• Geographic inconsistencies: Assessment, monitoring and mitigation strategies vary widely across countries, impeding cross-border understanding of ecological impacts. Most evidence comes from Europe and North America and data from other regions around the world are scarce, creating blind spots for global policy and conservation.
• Critical knowledge gaps: Research on floating offshore wind farms and decommissioning is still very limited. These rapidly expanding areas lack robust evidence on long-term ecological impacts, leaving their full consequences for marine ecosystems uncertain and an urgent priority for future study.

To help address the challenges, the authors urge adoption of emerging assessment and monitoring tools, such as environmental DNA (eDNA), digital twin simulations, AI-powered ecosystem models and autonomous survey technologies. They also recommend international data-sharing platforms and regionally tailored ecosystem monitoring programs to align biodiversity protection with renewable energy targets.