RWE has launched the SeaMe project in partnership with leading scientists to gain better understanding of the interactions between offshore wind farms and the ecosystem through the use of scientific approach combined with new AI-based and CO2 minimizing monitoring technologies.
The three-year SeaMe project, short for Sustainable ecosystem approach in Monitoring the marine environment, will uses cutting-edge monitoring technologies – including environmental DNA sampling as well as a drone and an autonomous underwater vehicle, both equipped with AI-based cameras.
Taking place at RWE’s 342 MW Kaskasi offshore wind farm in Germany, the project will investigate how innovative techniques can make monitoring less invasive and more sustainable compared to the current monitoring techniques.
SeaMe aims to replace traditional monitoring methods with a drone equipped with an AI-based camera system. The project will also collect water samples and analyze them for environmental DNA. AI-based fish video monitoring will be performed using an autonomous underwater vehicle.
Simultaneous integration of all collected data will enable monitoring of the ecosystem within the Kaskasi offshore wind farm with the goal of reducing carbon intensity of monitoring as well as minimizing the impact on marine life
The project will be carried out in collaboration with partners including the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity at the University of Oldenburg (HIFMB), the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), BioConsult SH, the Danish company DHI and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI).
The partners plan to share the results on a dedicated online public platform.
“As a global leading player in offshore wind, we feel responsible for building and operating our wind farms in harmony with nature. To deliver green electricity, we invest billions of euros annually in offshore wind. We are committed to expanding our portfolio in an environmentally friendly way.
“With this in mind, we have set ourselves ambitious sustainability targets and are making all efforts to find ways to improve. With the SeaMe project we are pioneering new techniques that will enable us to better understand the impact of offshore wind on the marine ecosystem,” said Sven Utermöhlen, CEO RWE Offshore Wind.
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