Portal:MERMAID/Baltic Sea

A first prototype site is suggested to be Kriegers flak, off-shore located in the shallow intersection between Danish, German and Swedish waters. The site may constitute a primary site for massive development of wind turbine farms and with its location on the pathway for exchange flow between Baltic proper and the North Sea the site is ideally suited for aquaculture, potentially with ample synergies between energy and food production. Building on this sites unique physical and natural advantages a test system combining gravity based turbine foundations with extensive mariculture, may provide an efficient platform for harnessing natural resources of the Baltic in a sustainable manner. However any man-made construction in the sea potentially may have adverse effects on the vulnerable environment, so part of this basic study will be to investigate, quantify and possibly mitigate such impacts. Special attention will be given to changes due to obstruction of the estuarine exchange flow, adverse effects of spills from mariculture, but also to the potential positive synergies such as increased local bio-diversity due to introduction of hard substrate.