Geological screening for offshore wind farms in Danish waters

Offshore wind is crucial in the development of a green and sustainable energy supply in Denmark. To assess the suitability of the marine geological conditions for offshore wind installations, GEUS is currently conducting a geological screening of the entire Danish waters for the Danish Energy Agency. The work is part of the project “Screening and Environmental mapping of offshore Wind potential in Denmark” with the overall aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the combined offshore wind potential, including sensitivity mapping of nature-, environmental- and other interests as well as assessment of potential cumulative effects from large-scale offshore wind development. To improve the geological knowledge base of the Danish waters, GEUS has acquired 6405 km UHRS single- and multichannel sparker seismic, subbottom profiler, sidescan and multibeam data as well as 168 vibrocores to support the seismic interpretation. We present here the initial analysis of data gaps and the extent of the recently completed survey activities. In addition, we present the first results of the geological mapping that will support the long-term planning of offshore wind farms in Denmark.