A new European project aims to improve offshore wind planning

By: Susanne Togeby, AAU Communication and Public Affair
Photo: Colourbox

One of the biggest challenges in developing offshore wind farm projects is that marine data is currently not centralized. This makes it difficult to assess the impact on nature and local communities, and therefore hard to minimize negative effects and enhance positive ones. A new project aims to create a shared data platform and new digital tools to help identify the best locations while also considering societal and environmental factors in offshore wind planning.

Researchers from Aalborg University, in collaboration with Denmark’s Environmental Portal, Vestas, and other partners from 11 European countries, will gather knowledge and experience on best practices for offshore wind development. This expertise will be combined into robust, integrated, and cross-national tools. The goal is to create a transnational data platform and digital tools that support both governmental planning and commercial project development.

“In this project, we are bridging the gap between data, models, and the concrete needs of stakeholders involved in offshore wind expansion,” says Ivar Lyhne, who is not only the project leader but also an Associate Professor at the Danish Centre for Environmental Assessment at Aalborg University.

The digital tools will consolidate insights on environmental and social factors that influence the location and design of offshore wind turbines—such as wildlife, fishing interests, and material use in the necessary infrastructure. The aim is to reduce uncertainty and unforeseen barriers that could delay or halt offshore wind projects, while also enhancing their positive impacts.

Lone Kørnøv, Professor and Head of Research Group at the Danish Centre for Environmental Assessment at Aalborg University, explains that the project builds on a series of research initiatives related to environmental assessment, digitalization, and sustainability in which the center has been involved. She states:

“We are very excited that, with our tradition of interdisciplinary projects, we now have the opportunity to develop solutions that bring together a range of different decision-support tools into one unified overview.”

The data platform and digital solutions will first be tested in the North Sea, with the ambition to expand them to other European marine areas such as the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. To support this, the partners are also working on a roadmap for geographic rollout and the development of common standards. The first prototypes are expected to be ready in 2027, with tool testing planned for 2028.

Translated by: Daniel Thøgersen Balle, AAU Communication and Public Affairs