70-Gigawatt Target: BSH launches wind and ocean measurement campaign with DWD for future offshore wind energy

• Measuring buoys anchored 280 kilometers off the North Sea coast
• First measurements reveal exciting new findings
• International collaboration with Fugro Norway

The SEAWATCH® buoy from Fugro Norway successfully deployed in the North Sea. View from the front. (Source: Fugro Norway)

The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) is working intensively to achieve the target of 70 gigawatts offshore wind energy by 2045. To this end, the BSH launched mid-December a multi-year measurement campaign with the German Weather Service (DWD) and the contracted company Fugro Norway. The aim is to collect measurements of the wind and sea conditions in an area around 280 kilometers off the German North Sea coast. The gathered meteorological and oceanographic data will provide valuable insights for the investigation and evaluation of future wind farm areas on the outer edge of the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“With the “MeteOR” campaign, the BSH acquires the basis for a safe and efficient development of offshore wind farms in remote areas of the German North Sea and thereby significantly contributes to the German energy transition”, says BSH President Helge Heegewaldt.

Background: The Offshore Wind Energy Act sets out the development targets: at least 70 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity should be available by 2045. To achieve this, additional wind farms must be built up to 350 kilometers off the German North Sea coast. However, there is a lack of data on the prevailing wind and sea conditions in these remote areas, which is essential for investigating the envisaged wind farm areas and for planning new projects.

In order to close this gap, the BSH and the German Weather Service (DWD) have launched the multi-year measurement campaign “Meteorological and Oceanographic Reference Measurements” (MeteOR). Since mid-December 2024, the company Fugro Norway, contracted for this purpose, is collecting comprehensive wind and ocean data in accordance with the highest quality standards in this remote North Sea region that has hardly been explored so far

Measurements from the seabed up to a height of 250 meters

For this campaign lasting at least three-years, Fugro Norway has installed two SEAWATCH® measuring buoys in the target area and anchored two oceanographic measurement systems to the seabed. The sensors installed on the seabed and inside the buoys record oceanographic data such as waves, ocean currents, temperature, salinity, pressure and oxygen content. The buoys are additionally equipped with a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) system, using laser beams to measure wind speeds at heights of up to 250 meters - the typical height range of modern offshore wind turbines.

The SEAWATCH® buoy from Fugro Norway in Esbjerg harbor. View from above. (Source: DWD)

Already during the first storms that passed the North Sea shortly after the systems were deployed, exciting data was collected. “Wind speeds of more than 90 kilometers per hour at a height of 160 meters and maximum wave heights of up to 11 meters were measured,” says Thomas Möller, one of the heads in the Maritime Climate Monitoring Department at the DWD, with fascination.

Essential data for future offshore expansion

The first measurement results show how dynamic and challenging the conditions in the new offshore areas are. “This data is crucial for the evaluation of the meteorological and oceanographic conditions during the preliminary investigation of the area and provides crucial insights for the planning of the further expansion of offshore wind energy in Germany,” emphasizes Dr. Johannes Hahn, technical coordinator of the meteorological and oceanographic preliminary investigation at the BSH. Furthermore, the measured data provide a valuable reference for the evaluation and development of meteorological and oceanographic models for simulating wind, waves and ocean currents.

Further information:

https://pinta.bsh.de  

Contact:

Martin Scheele
Pressereferent
Tel.: 040/3190-3503
presse@bsh.de

Das Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH) ist die maritime Behörde in Deutschland. 

Das BSH ist zuständig für Schifffahrt, Meeresschutz und nachhaltige Meeresnutzung, Offshore, Meeresvermessung, Meeresdaten und maritime Ressortforschung. 1000 Beschäftigte in über 100 unterschiedlichen Berufen engagieren sich an den Standorten in Hamburg und Rostock sowie auf fünf Vermessungs-, Wracksuch- und Forschungsschiffen. 

Das BSH ist eine Bundesoberbehörde und Ressortforschungseinrichtung im Geschäftsbereich des Bundesministeriums für Digitales und Verkehr (BMDV). 

Das BSH. Schifffahrt. Klima. Daten. Und viel Meer.

 

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