Last year, China installed more offshore wind capacity than any other nation for the third year running. This year it is set to overtake the UK as the largest offshore wind market. With the sector booming, some are looking at opportunities beneath the turbines. Could their bases be turned into aquaculture farms or “marine ranches” – habitats where marine life can live, breed and be harvested for human consumption?
So far, no mixed wind power and marine ranching projects have been completed in China. Projects are being built in provinces including Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. If successful, they could enable more efficient use of limited space at sea, help develop fishery resources, and support more sustainable development.
But it is too soon to talk of a large-scale roll-out. There are currently no China-specific research findings on how the wind and seafood elements affect each other, and many questions remain to be answered. How, for example, will the noise of building and operating a wind farm affect marine life?
Most of China’s offshore wind power potential is concentrated around the southeastern coast and nearby islands, where the water is between 5 and 50 meters deep, according to the 2019 China Renewable Energy Development Report. Some of this area is suitable for marine ranching.
The government is not currently pushing ahead with integrated offshore wind and marine ranching development. In a response to a comment from a National People’s Representative, the Ministry of Agriculture said academics are studying how the two operations could work together, but there are no findings yet. “Establishing the impact of wind farms on the fishery resources in marine ranches will require long-term monitoring and evaluation. It is too early for the state to put the necessary policies and plans in place,” its statement said.
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https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/chinese-companies-are-combining-offshore-wind-with-fish-farms