Vattenfall introduces seaweed farms at wind farms

The promotional video is here – but be warned, there is some rather colourful language in it.

Two Danish wind farms – Kriegers Flak in the Baltic Sea, and Veseterhav Syd in the Danish North Sea – have been trialling a ‘WIN@Sea’ project, in which seaweed has been cultivated among the installations.

And it doesn’t end there: Vattenfall says it is part of a consortium spanning 12 countries that is looking into seaweed product applications and the entire supply chain.

“In addition, a commercial seaweed pilot is taking place at Vattenfall’s wind farm Hollandse Kust Zuid, which is run by a consortium led by North Sea Farmers, the European Seaweed Association,” it says.

The WIN@Sea project aims to investigate how more efficient use can be made of increasingly populated sea areas, and Vattenfall believes this can be achieved by combining human activities in the same areas, which means different industries could share infrastructure and services, ‘thereby reducing fuel consumption and costs’.

”It also facilitates nature conservation efforts wihtin and beyond the wind farm area, such as habitat restoration and protection from bottom-disturbing fishing practices,” it says.

One key element of the project is to build the knowledge and experience necessary to further upscale multi-use initiatives in the near future, Vattenfall says. 

Offshore wind mixed picture

Vattenfall has shown some uncertainty in offshore wind in recent years.

In 2024 it exited and sold to RWE the UK’s Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone, comprising Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas.

Just this week, the development of the IJmuiden Ver Beta offshore wind project, a partnership project with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners called the Zeevonk Consortium, was put on hold and will not be delivered until 2029 and 2032, in two phases.

However the company has said it will go ahead with the Nordlicht 1 and 2 wind farms in Germany, with 1 being the largest in that country to date, exceeding 1.6GW generation capacity and scheduled to begin in 2026.

Vattenfall has not been affected by the reluctance of Donald Trump when it comes to offshore wind, having concentrated its business mainly in the UK and Europe.