Quieter offshore construction to get underway in the North Sea by 2019

Noise-reducing foundations for offshore windpower generators are to help protect porpoises and other marine animals.

Hamburg (dpa) – In 2019, construction will get underway in the North Sea of offshore wind generators using a new method that will create less noise during the construction period.

The Canadian energy concern Northland Power is building the windpark “Deutsche Bucht” with 31 generators 95 kilometres north of the North Sea island of Borkum. The company said it will construct two additional windmills using the so-called “suction buckets” method.

In this case, instead of the foundations being hammered into the seabed, their own weight and low air pressure help them to dig as deep as 18 metres below the seabed. This reduces the noise pollution which porpoises, seals, fish and other marine animals usually suffer during the offshore construction.