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BfN/Sascha Moritz

Tender for new R&D project "Nature-compatible expansion of offshore wind energy by 2050"

The increasing demand for renewable energy, especially for electricity-based consumption, and the current problems with the expansion of onshore wind energy are leading to an intensification of the expansion of offshore wind farms. However, in addition to nature conservation, other uses such as raw material extraction and fishing are competing for the scarce sea areas. The pressure on land and the competition in the sea will therefore continue to increase. This raises the question of the ecological viability of offshore wind energy in the Economic Exclusion Zones of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, as well as of environmentally compatible development paths.

FKZ: 3520 86 0400 (Departmental Research Plan)

Publication date: 18.09.2020

Deadline for submission of bids: 21.10.2020, 12:00 hrs.

(all information without guarantee)

The proposed project has two objectives:

I) To determine the framework for action that will ensure the environmentally compatible use of renewable energies, in particular offshore wind energy, in 2050. From this setting, the necessary need for action is to be derived in retrospect. The starting point for the analysis to be carried out are findings on the impact paths of the offshore expansion of renewable energies and their connection to the grid, as well as relevant fields of conflict in the context of marine nature conservation and bird migration.
To this end, the topics of technology development (e.g. foundation structures, turbine size, alternative energy generation) and ecological coping capacity of the marine ecosystems of the North Sea and Baltic Sea are to be analysed and presented in detail.In addition, scenarios for expansion development until 2050 are to be analysed and optimised from a nature conservation perspective. Based on an environmentally compatible preferred scenario, the current and future need for action must then be determined in order to achieve this goal by 2050 (normative approach).

II) The second objective of the project is to develop a research concept for related nature conservation research in the planned wind test field (offshore). Among other things, methods and timetables for research into mitigation strategies are to be presented.

The tender documents are available for Download

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How can the expansion in renewable energies be designed in harmony with nature? The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) is providing expert scientific advice on this question to the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (Bundesumweltministerium, BMUB). Research by the BfN always has a practical application and generates scientific results for advising government i.e. supplies a basis for decision-making for the preparation, implementation, monitoring and further development of nature conservation measures and the Federal Government's nature conservation policy.