Successful Harvest at the World’s First Co-located Seaweed Farm and Offshore Wind Farm

North Sea Farm 1 in the North Sea has achieved a historic milestone with its inaugural seaweed harvest.

An Innovative Initiative

The project is spearheaded by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), in collaboration with North Sea Farmers. This organization, a non-profit initiative backed by Amazon’s Right Now Climate Fund, focuses on climate and biodiversity projects and has allocated €2 million to this unique endeavor.

Research and Benefits

PML is leading the scientific research to explore the climate change and biodiversity benefits of integrating seaweed farms within offshore wind energy sites. The insights gained from this initial harvest will be crucial in understanding how effectively these farms can extract carbon from the atmosphere and contribute to global climate resilience.

Prof. Ana Queirós, Climate Change Lead at PML, expressed her enthusiasm: “We’re eager to analyze the impacts of this innovative seaweed farm on biodiversity and the surrounding marine ecosystem.”

The Concept of Co-location

Strategically placed between offshore wind turbines, the farm is safeguarded from maritime traffic, providing a unique opportunity to evaluate the benefits of aquaculture amidst renewable energy production. Located within the ‘Hollandse Kust Zuid’ (HKZ) wind farm, roughly 18 kilometers off Scheveningen, this pioneering project took three years to develop, starting with seaweed planting in October 2024.

Eva Faict, Amazon’s country manager for the Netherlands and Belgium, remarked, “This inaugural harvest not only marks a significant achievement but also validates the concept of seaweed farming among wind turbines as a commercially viable model.”

Harvesting Process

The harvesting process involves specialized vessels maneuvering carefully between wind turbines to collect mature seaweed from four expansive nets, each measuring 50 by 3 meters, anchored securely on the seabed. The cultivated seaweed spans across five hectares of the North Sea and can be processed into various products including textiles, food items, and wellness solutions.

Ongoing Research and Future Prospects

The consortium, including researchers from PML, Deltares, and Silvestrum Climate Associates, has been diligently monitoring the site with satellite data and regular site visits. Following the harvest, a comprehensive analysis will be conducted on the growth of the seaweed, its carbon absorption effectiveness, and its ecological impact.

Collaborative Network

The North Sea Farmers consortium, active since 2014 as a representative of the European seaweed industry, aims to collect vital evidence for future seaweed cultivation endeavors. With collaborators including Algaia, Simply Blue Group, and maritime contractors such as Van Oord and Doggerland Offshore, the project is poised for greater scalability and sustainability.

Related Information

Explore more about the project: NSF#1 Project

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