Earlier this week, contractor Per Aarsleff revealed that the company had been chosen by Hofor to supply foundations for the 26 offshore wind turbines that will make up the Aflandshage Offshore Wind Farm.
The foundation contract is not only good news for Per Aarsleff, it is also good news for the marine environment in Øresund. In any case, the agreement on the supply of the foundations includes a so-called Nature Inclusive Design in the form of, among other things, a kind of artificial stone reef, which consists of large rocks at the foundations, which form crevices and thus hiding places for fish and small animals.
The hope is that it will help to provide more biodiversity in the marine environment and improve the living conditions for cod in particular, which has been in sharp decline in Danish seas in recent years. The artificial reefs will be established at the foundations where relevant, Hofor said in a statement.
- It is a strategic goal for us to help strengthen Denmark's green transition, and the turbines will provide the Øresund region with plenty of renewable energy, but building wind farms is not CO2-free, and we have therefore chosen to require all our suppliers to meet sustainability requirements. In the tender documents for the foundations, we have required that the marine environment be considered and strengthened as much as possible and that the CO2- footprint be reduced where possible, says Henrik Plougmann Olsen, director of HOFOR.
Praise from nature association
The association Rent Hav has long drawn attention to the lack of rocky reefs in the sea - especially in Øresund. Here, Rent Hav believes that the industry has sourced stone without understanding the consequences for the marine environment, and therefore the association is pleased with Hofor's initiative with artificial stone reefs.
- In the fight to restore a healthy Danish marine environment at a high ecological level, stone reefs are one of the best tools we have. In addition to being able to house entire ecosystems, they also make our seas better able to absorb more of the nutrients that are unfortunately discharged into the sea, says Heine Birk Hansen, Board Member of Rent Hav.
The foundations will be between 17 and 25 meters high and will weigh up to 4,000 tons. Each foundation will support a wind turbine, which is approximately 220 meters high at the top blade tip. The foundations will be established in the first half of 2025. The work will be completed in the fall of 2025.
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