Evaluation of influence of offshore wind farm noise on fishes and dolphins
image:
(a) An illustration of the biodiversity in the wind farm region, with at least three marine taxa that can both produce and sense sounds: snapping shrimp, fishes, and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins. (b) The predicted impact zone of pile driving noise for fish, where the SELss values are higher than the fish safety threshold of 181.74 dB. The predicted (c) temporary and (d) permanent threshold shift zones of pile driving noise for the Indo-pacific humpback dolphin, where the SELw_cum values are higher than the safety threshold of 170 and 185 dB respectively.
view moreCredit: Zhongchang Song
The use of fossil fuels has affected both land and ocean environments, leading to a growing need for clean and affordable energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, offshore wind energy as a form of blue energy is rapidly developing in recent decades. However, the boom of offshore wind farms has raised concerns about the impact of the radiating underwater noise on marine inhabitants during both construction and operation, especially those sound-dependent organisms.
Against this backdrop, a team of researchers led by Professors Zhongchang Song and Yu Zhang from Xiamen University collaborated Senior Scientist Honghui Huang and his team from the South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, to conduct field measurements of the underwater noise of an offshore wind farm in the Pearl River Estuary. They developed an impact-zone estimating model to evaluate the impact zone of the wind farm noise for the fishes and dolphins in the Pearl River Estuary.
Notably, acoustic analysis results showed that the low-frequency operational noise (below 2.5kHz) of wind turbine was significantly lower in the intensity than the broadband pulsed pile driving noise produced during construction, which had a mean zero-to-peak sound pressure level up to 195.1 dB (re 1 μPa) (n = 238) at 30 m from the construction site.
“The Pearl River Estuary is home to the largest group of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in the world and our acoustic recordings showed a high diversity of biological acoustics in the wind farm, including fishes, snapping shrimp, finless porpoises and the Indo-pacific humpback dolphins,” shares Song, who serves as the lead author of the study published in the KeAi journal Water Biology and Security. “The intense pile driving noise during construction of wind farm surpassed the hearing thresholds of the fishes and Indo-pacific humpback dolphin by far, and will inevitably induce negative impacts on these animals.”
To assess the impact scopes of the pile driving noise on marine animals, the researchers developed an impact-zone estimating model base on the cumulative sound exposure level. By referring to established noise exposure metrics, the impact zone of pile driving noise for fishes was estimated to be 12.8m. As for the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, the permanent (PTS) and temporary threshold shift (TTS) zones were predicted to be 32.4 m and 580.9 m, respectively.
“Our approach and findings enable us to better protect the local marine life from the effects of pile driving noise radiation, and guide the development of management policies during the construction of offshore wind farm,” adds Song.
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Contact the author: Zhongchang Song, Key Laboratory of Underwater Acoustic Communication and Marine Information Technology (Ministry of Education), College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China, songzc@xmu.edu.cn
The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 200 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).
Journal
Water Biology and Security
Method of Research
Computational simulation/modeling
Subject of Research
Animals
Article Title
Evaluation of the influence of offshore wind farm noise on the fishes and dolphins in the Pearl River Estuary
The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub 2025 call for innovators opens today
Program seeks participants to drive technological growth in industry
The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub today announced the opening of its 2025 application process, designed to identify and support entrepreneurial and innovative companies that will help unleash the potential of the dynamic emerging offshore wind industry.
Winners take on a six-month mentoring and business development program residency designed to prepare them for strategic partnerships with major offshore wind developers and to be part of the larger offshore wind value chain. The program aims to enable innovators to overcome barriers to adoption and continue to successfully commercialize their solutions in New York and beyond.
Applications will be accepted until March 21, 2025. Through a highly competitive selection process, applicants will have to demonstrate the potential and economic impact of their innovation. Shortlisted applicants will advance to a public pitch event in New York before a panel of experts representing academia, industry, and government.
Launched in January 2023, the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub is led by Equinor in collaboration with Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and National Offshore Wind Research & Development Consortium (NOWRDC) supported by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the New York City-based Innovation Hub seeks to advance an inclusive supply chain and accelerate New York’s local green economy.
“We look forward to building on the strong foundation of the Innovation Hub and supporting the next round of entrepreneurs and emerging technologies,” says Molly Morris, President, Equinor Renewables Americas. “The solutions identified by the innovators will play a critical role in advancing the offshore energy industry, developing supply chains, and strengthening energy security for future generations of New Yorkers.”
“The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub is a critical pipeline for helping grow New York’s offshore wind sector,” says Doreen M. Harris, President and CEO, NYSERDA. “Providing support for visionary clean energy concepts through to the commercialization of groundbreaking innovations, programs like this are a catalyst to developing inventive and sustainable offshore wind technologies that will help power the future of New York.”
Cohort companies who are selected for the Innovation Hub will be individually paired with knowledgeable Equinor mentors and gain industry-specific guidance on technology development from NOWRDC which includes experts from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). NYSERDA also provides funding for the NOWRDC to support the advancement of offshore wind technologies.
“The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub team pulls together a broad and truly useful program of mentorship, educational, and networking resources. Across the spectrum of commercial maturity represented by this Cohort, we saw each of the Cohort companies take exactly what they needed from the huge array of support available,” said Russell Bingham, Head of Product at Pliant Energy Systems. “For us at Pliant, the Hub has been a primary enabler of customer engagement and a source of mentorship as we’ve moved to commercialize our tech in offshore wind and beyond – we’ve made great strides towards fielding robots with customers and developed a newly robust and customer-vetted commercialization plan.”
“New York City is a leading global hub for the green economy, and the significant advances in the Offshore Wind sector are creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs to scale technologies that address critical challenges in the deployment of renewable energy," says New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) Chief Operating Officer Melissa Román Burch. "After the outstanding success of the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub's last two cohorts, NYCEDC is excited for the next round of innovators who will demonstrate their sustainable impact throughout the five boroughs and beyond.”
"The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub’s 2025 Call for Innovators is a vital opportunity to connect cutting-edge technologies with the resources, partnerships, and community needed to scale impactful solutions to support offshore wind energy," says Lyndie Hice-Dunton, Executive Director at National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC). "NOWRDC is committed to driving the innovation necessary to unlock the full potential of this growing ecosystem. We are excited to collaborate with forward-thinking, innovative companies who share our vision of a thriving, sustainable offshore wind industry."
Following the success of the inaugural cohort in 2023, last year's Innovation Hub cohort of six companies was chosen from among 78 accelerator applicants. This year, the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub is seeking technologies within wind power and site characterization, project and port development, installation, commissioning, construction, transmission, operations, maintenance, conflict reduction, and stakeholder engagement. These topics have been selected as critical areas of innovation to advance successful offshore wind projects in the US.
Selected companies then participate in a rigorous accelerator program, in which they receive scale-up support, bespoke business development assistance, industry mentorship, access to expert workshops, tenantship at the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub in Brooklyn, and exclusive network access.
Last year’s cohort include Pliant Energy Systems (Brooklyn, US), Sensatek (Daytona Beach, US), Triton Anchor (Boston, US), Boxkite Software (Bristol, UK), Claviate (Aarhus, DK), and Indeximate (Hinckley, UK). The cohort showcased exceptional achievements during the program which include securing new contracts, company establishment in New York, testing and validating novel technology, pilot demonstrations, strengthening product value proposition, and forming critical partnerships.
“The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub’s accelerator program provides innovators with hands-on support and unprecedented access to leaders from industry, government, academia, and research,” says Jack Fritzinger, Interim Director of the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub with Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon NYU Tandon School of Engineering. “Our past two cohorts have seen great success, and we’re excited to expand the program with this new cohort of visionary founders.”
“Indeximate have hugely benefited from being included in the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub's 2024 cohort - it has been a great privilege for us to play a part,” said Dr Chirs Minto, Director at Indeximate. “The program has benefited us in so many ways - a deeper understanding of the US market and what it will take to play in it, the support of the Climate Exchange Network and Colombia Tech to develop our Value Proposition and road test working in the market as well of course as the deep insight offered by Equinor into assessing and exploiting our offering. The introductions to US Venture Capital have positioned ourselves superbly for our next stage of expansion.”
“The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub exemplifies NYU Tandon's commitment to confronting climate change through engineering solutions,” says Linda Ng Boyle, Vice Dean for Research, NYU Tandon School of Engineering. “By bridging entrepreneurs and industry leaders with Tandon's academic research expertise, particularly through our Sustainable Engineering Initiative, we're contributing to the development of a robust offshore wind ecosystem in New York. The success of our previous cohorts demonstrates how these types of partnerships can support the deployment of technologies vital for renewable energy and a more sustainable future.”
About the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub
Catalyzing startups to unleash the potential of offshore wind in New York. We leverage our New York City hub to grow the US offshore wind industry by harnessing the entrepreneurial powers of both global industry-leading startups and the local community. Our innovative programming and strong networks connecting innovators, local partners, investors, and industry will foster demonstration opportunities, safety awareness, knowledge transfer, innovation, and job creation. Through collaborative partnerships, we accelerate the local development of new technologies for the national offshore wind industry, to facilitate cost-efficiency gains. Our commitment to diversity and equity will advance inclusive supply chain and business development and accelerate the green economy in New York. To learn more, visit www.offshorewindnyc.com.
About Empire Wind
Empire Wind is located 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island and spans 80,000 acres, with water depths of between approximately 75 and 135 feet. The lease was acquired in 2017. The project’s two phases, Empire Wind 1 and 2, have a potential capacity of more than 2 GW (810 + 1,260 MW), enough to power over 1 million New York homes. www.empirewind.com.
About Equinor
Equinor is a broad international energy company and for more than 36 years has delivered safe and reliable energy to help power American society. We are one of the largest offshore wind developers in the world, with more than 20 years of global experience. In addition to Empire Wind, lease areas include the Central Atlantic and California. www.equinor.com/NY
About the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC)
The National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, established in 2018, is a not-for-profit public-private partnership focused on advancing offshore wind technology in the United States through high-impact research projects and cost-effective and responsible development to maximize economic benefits. Funding for the Consortium comes from the U.S. Department of Energy and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), as well as contributions from the Commonwealths of Virginia and Massachusetts and the States of Maryland, Maine, New Jersey, and California. For more information, please visit nationaloffshorewind.org.
About New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC)
New York City Economic Development Corporation is a mission-driven, nonprofit organization that works for a vibrant, inclusive, and globally competitive economy for all New Yorkers. We take a comprehensive approach, through four main strategies: strengthen confidence in NYC as a great place to do business; grow innovative sectors with a focus on equity, build neighborhoods as places to live, learn, work, and play; and deliver sustainable infrastructure for communities and the city's future economy. To learn more about what we do, visit us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
About the Urban Future Lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering
The Urban Future Lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering is a nonprofit innovation hub for best-in-class climatetech startups with a focus on clean energy and sustainable urban infrastructure solutions. It is home to ACRE, New York’s longest-running climatetech incubator, Clean Start, an advanced certificate from NYU for people seeking a transition into the climatetech sector, the Carbon to Value Initiative and Offshore Wind Innovation Hub, which bring innovative technologies and solutions to industry leaders, and the Innovate UK Global Incubator Programme, which supports market entry in the U.S. for U.K.-based climatetech startups that can effectively scale and support the clean growth goals of New York State. As an integral part of Tandon’s Sustainable Engineering Initiative and NYU Tandon Future Labs network, the UFL is home to programs focused on policy, education, and market solutions for the green economy. For more information, visit ufl.nyc or LinkedIn and Instagram.
About the New York University Tandon School of Engineering
The NYU Tandon School of Engineering is home to a community of renowned faculty, undergraduate and graduate students united in a mission to understand and create technology that powers cities, enables worldwide communication, fights climate change, and builds healthier, safer, and more equitable real and digital worlds. The school’s culture centers on encouraging rigorous, interdisciplinary collaboration and research; fostering inclusivity, entrepreneurial thinking, and diverse perspectives; and creating innovative and accessible pathways for lifelong learning in STEM. NYU Tandon dates back to 1854, the founding year of both the New York University School of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute. Located in the heart of Brooklyn, NYU Tandon is a vital part of New York University and its unparalleled global network. For more information, visit engineering.nyu.edu.
$5 million to improve testing, durability and noise levels of wave energy devices, offshore wind
The research could make offshore renewable energy more reliable and a better neighbor to marine life, also enabling laboratory testing of larger prototypes
University of Michigan
Devices that create electricity from wave motion and offshore winds could become sturdier, quieter and easier to test at near-ocean-ready sizes, with four new grants to the University of Michigan.
The new funding from the U.S. Department of Energy totals around $5 million, which will be used to develop:
Shock absorbers that allow mooring lines to last longer and power sensors that monitor the device
Curtains of balloons and arrays of metal poles in the seabed that mitigate wildlife-disturbing noise produced by offshore wind turbines
Combinations of hardware and software—called hardware-in-loop platforms—that will enable laboratory testing of ocean-scale wave energy devices by mimicking the power produced by ocean waves
Standardized testing and a publicly accessible database of the performance of power takeoffs, the components of wave energy devices that convert motion to power
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National Labs, the American Bureau of Shipping and Virginia Tech will also contribute to these projects.
Ocean waves and offshore winds could be a vast energy source. The total available power in ocean waves in the United States is equivalent to nearly 60% of the electricity currently produced in the country. Global offshore wind energy can be 18 times the world's electricity needs.
Despite its potential, marine energy is still not as widely deployed as solar panels and land turbines. One reason the technology lags behind other renewables is because they don't survive rough waters. Waves can be strong enough to break mooring lines and leave wave energy devices lost at sea.
The shock absorbers designed in the first project could ensure that mooring lines don't break or weaken to the point that the attached devices can move in ways that prevent them from efficiently generating electricity. The motion of the shock absorbers will also be used to generate a small amount of electricity to power other electronics on the device, such as sensors that monitor the health of the device.
"It can cost around two million dollars to fix a mooring line that is only 30 to 80 meters deep," said Lei Zuo, the Herbet C. Sadler Collegiate Professor of Engineering and each project's principal investigator. "It's best to create as robust a system as possible."
Another limit to marine energy deployment are its environmental impacts. Some regulators and biologists fear that noisy offshore wind turbines could interfere with marine life by drowning out the sounds they use to communicate and navigate. These concerns will be addressed with the balloon curtains, which prevent sound waves produced by wind turbines from moving through the water column, and the metal poles, which stop them in the seabed.
The final two grants will enable easier and more rapid testing of prototype wave energy converters and their components. Today, engineers have to build smaller scale versions of their prototypes to test them in wave tanks, because testing at full-scales in real ocean environments can be expensive and risky—especially if a large wave breaks a mooring line. But the amount of power produced by wave energy converters scales exponentially with the device's size. As a result, components within the prototype device are exposed to uncharacteristically low amounts of power during smaller scale tests.
"Ideally, we would build and fully test a device that is half or one-third the size of an ocean-scale device before we'd deploy it in the ocean," said Zuo, who is also a professor of naval architecture and marine engineering and mechanical engineering. "For our tests in wave tanks, we are limited to prototypes that are 10 to 20 times smaller than ocean-scale devices, which reduces the power by a factor of 3,000 to 35,000."
That scaling problem can leave engineers less certain that their designs will function as expected and survive in expensive field trials. The hardware-in-loop platforms will enable engineers to comprehensively evaluate how well a variety of different power takeoff systems perform under more realistic levels of wave power before conducting any tests in the real ocean. The data that Zuo's team will create from their testing platforms will also be compiled into a standardized dataset for the research community to benchmark their prototypes against.
Other collaborators include Xiaofan Li, a former research scientist of naval architecture and marine engineering at U-M who is now at the University of Hong Kong, and David Dowling, the ABS Professor of Marine and Offshore Design Performance.
