Salamander Wind Project Partners with Scottish Universities on Marine Environment Study

March 5, 2024, by Adnan Memija

Salamander, a joint venture between Ørsted, Simply Blue Group and Subsea7, has partnered with two Scottish universities to investigate any potential impact of floating offshore wind farms on marine ecosystems.

The PREDICT 2.0 initiative forms part of a research programme led by experts at the University of the Highlands and Islands’ (UHI) Environmental Research Institute and the University of Aberdeen, and is designed to develop a better understanding of fish migration patterns.

The proposed Salamander site will be used as a monitoring base to gather data on the drivers of variation in fish movement and availability as prey.

Teams from the universities will deploy various sensors that can be used to identify fish presence and behaviour in the site while assessing how these change over time.

The original PREDICT programme enhanced the understanding of fish migration patterns and provided a vision for next-generation monitoring techniques, according to Ørsted. The second phase is expected to further such research, working with the Salamander team to investigate the likely impacts of floating offshore wind farms on marine life, said Ørsted.

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The 100 MW floating wind farm is one of the 13 projects selected in Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round and one of the five INTOG innovation projects that signed exclusivity agreements with Crown Estate Scotland in May 2023.

To be located 35 kilometres off the coast of Peterhead, the 100 MW Salamander floating offshore wind farm will generate enough green energy to power 100,000 Scottish homes.