Benthic Disturbance from Offshore Wind Foundations, Anchors, and Cables

This Educational Research Brief will summarizes the potential disturbance and impact to benthic ecosystems for fixed-bottom installations in shallow waters and floating offshore wind farms in deep waters. Stresses from pile driving, scour, cable installation, and anchoring are reviewed for impacts during the construction and operation periods of the wind farm using data and analysis from Europe and the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coasts.