Winmon project information

The Winmon-project is a long term monitoring program that aims to investigate the potential effects of the installation of offshore windfarms (OWFs) on the benthic environment. Multiple OWF located in the Belgian Part of the North Sea (BPNS) are monitored. My professional practice included macrobenthic and hyperbenthic samples data from Belwind and C-power which are respectively located 46 and 27 km offshore. Belwind is located in the Bligh bank, while C-power is located in the Thornton bank.

Turbine types can affect the environment differently. Belwind consists of turbines of the monopile type, while C-power consists of turbines of the jacked/tripod types. Jacket foundations are stable and create a larger surface area for fauling fauna to attach to. Monopile foundations require a scour protection layer (SPL) to prevent erosion from destabilising the turbine. These SPL increase the hard substrate in the environment which can attract different types of organisms.

Generally, fauling fauna attached to a monopile is perceived in different zones. This fauna can increase the organic matter in the surrounding area. The fact that the turbine can increase the frequency of finer sediments precipitating also increases the capacity to store the increased organic matter. Therefore we can expect a difference in communities of invertebrates inside the sediment. We examined the macrobenthic infauna (1mm <) and hyperbenthos because it is known that the abiotic parameters such as granulometry and organic matter (OM%) can change invertebrate community composition. The data is later analysed to see if the OWF do have an effect.