Offshore wind farms and their impact on North Sea stratification

In expanding wind energy generation to offshore regions, wind farms are now being operated and constructed in coastal seas that form a seasonal stratification. This stratification develops as increased solar radiation and heating warm the upper ocean in summer. It has a dominant influence on numerous ocean processes such as the growth and distribution of phytoplankton, as well as on the distribution of suspended sediment concentrations. The formation of stratification is opposed by turbulent mixing processes such as bottom boundary layer friction, and wave breaking in the surface mixed layer. However, as more wind farms are built in coastal areas that exhibit strong tidal currents, the turbulence generated as the currents interact with the wind farm foundation structures is expected to contribute to an enhanced mixing of the water column. This is especially true in the North Sea, where proposed wind farm developments comprise thousands of wind mills occupying a significant fraction of the offshore area. With these proposed developments in mind, we examine whether it is possible for the turbulence and mixing generated by these structures to have an impact on the formation of stratification. This is done by combining a series of idealized mixing models with both in-situ observations and numerical modeling of the North Sea. The results show that it is possible for the wind farms to have an influence on the large-scale stratification of the North Sea, but only when the development is particularly dense and widespread. Most important, we find that the amount of mixing is sensitive to both the type and placement of the wind farm foundation structures, as well as on the evolution of the stratification -- both of which are currently not well known.