New European research has shown that a North Sea wind farm has little negative effect on the fauna around it. In fact, researchers found that the presence of the wind farm actually provided a new natural habitat for organisms living on the seabed. Researchers in the Netherlands from IMARES (Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies) at Wageningen UR (University and Research centre), the Bureau Waardenburg and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) analysed the short-term ecological effects of the wind farm that was built near Windpark Egmond aan Zee (OWEZ), the first large-scale offshore wind farm built off the Dutch North Sea coast. The farm has the total capacity to provide energy for up to 100,000 households. Read More
