Evaluation of the marine biomass produced by the submerged infrastructures of floating offshore wind turbines and its benefits for local professional fishing

The pilot farm of 3 floating wind turbines off the coast of Gruissan/Port-La-Nouvelle (Aude) that is the EolMed Project, led by the Qair Marine group, will be built in 2023 18 km from the coast. These wind turbines will be installed on a float with a surface area, in contact with the marine environment, representing 0.40 ha, i.e. 1.2 ha in total. The EolBio project complements the EolMed project, which focuses on energy production, to reflect on the positive effect that can be generated by the installation of wind turbine structures. The central objective of the project is to quantify the effect of the installation of a floating wind farm on marine biomass and the effect on fish biomass. This project will also make it possible to identify scenarios for the management and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources with a view to co-use at the level of a floating wind farm. As part of this project, a buoy/demonstrator will be deployed on site, comprising (i) steel substrate plates to study their colonization by biofouling, (ii) underwater cameras to monitor the fish fauna, (iii) a hydrophone to study the mammals of the area and (iv) aerial cameras for the avifauna. The EolBio project benefits from financial support from the Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME).