Offshore wind farms boost aquatic ecosystems, new research suggested.
The study found that the rough concrete surfaces of wind turbine foundations allow sessile organisms — immobile living things like barnacles, sea sponges, and algae — to thrive, and form the basis of a complex food chain.
Areas with wind farms had more species of fish, and twice the biomass of comparable regions. Artificial reefs, created by scuttling ships, sinking oil rigs, or dropping rubble into the sea, have long been known to improve aquatic life, so perhaps these findings are unsurprising. But researchers have previously expressed concern over damage to sea beds caused by turbine construction, and leaching of toxic materials from corroding metals.