ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Coastal Ocean Processes
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1619577
The impact of offshore wind turbine foundations on local hydrodynamics and stratification in the southern North Sea
Provisionally accepted
- 1Deltares (Netherlands), Delft, Netherlands
- 2Flanders Marine Institute, Oostende, Belgium
- 3Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Brussel, Belgium
- 4Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research, Yerseke, Netherlands
- 5Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
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The development of offshore wind farms (OWFs) in the North Sea is a crucial component for the transition to renewable energy. However, local hydrodynamics in the vicinity of OWF turbine foundations may be affected due to their interaction with tidal currents. This study investigates the impact of offshore wind turbine foundations on local hydrodynamics and stratification in the southern North Sea. We conducted a series of measurements around a single monopile in the Belgian part of the North Sea, focusing on hydrodynamics, salinity and temperature both near the surface and over the water column, and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE).Our results indicate that the foundation-induced wake significantly affects local hydrodynamics, leading to a well-defined band of colder, more saline water at the surface and warmer, less saline water near the seabed. This is quantified through the Potential Energy Anomaly (PEA), which shows a marked decrease in the wake-affected area. The wake is spatially confined, with a width of approximately 70 meters and a length of less than 400 meters downstream of the monopile. Additionally, our measurements reveal an increase in TKE within the wake, indicating enhanced turbulent mixing. This mixing reduces vertical gradients in salinity and temperature, leading to a more homogeneous water column.The findings highlight the importance of considering monopile-induced mixing in large-scale hydrodynamic and ecosystem models, as these effects can influence nutrient transport, primary production, and overall ecosystem dynamics. Furthermore, our research provides valuable data for validating and improving the models used to predict the ecological impact of OWFs.
Keywords: offshore wind energy1, southern North Sea2, wind turbine foundations3, wakes4, measurements5 turbulent mixing6, stratification7
Received: 28 Apr 2025; Accepted: 25 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hendriks, Langedock, Van Duren, Vanaverbeke, Boone and Soetaert. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Erik Hendriks, Deltares (Netherlands), Delft, Netherlands
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