The EOLO initiative, coordinated by the Institute in collaboration with the local councils affected by offshore wind power, will provide local authorities with scientific evidence on how these floating parks interact with biodiversity and the local economy.
The deployment of offshore wind energy in the Spanish State has gained momentum in recent years with the approval of the Maritime Spatial Planning Plans (POEM). In the case of Catalonia, the Gulf of Roses has been designated as a High Potential Area for Offshore Wind Energy (ZAPER) to host these installations, and so far, nine floating wind farm projects have already been submitted (one of them of an experimental nature).
However, this area has also been designated within the same POEMs as a High Potential Area for Biodiversity Conservation, while various studies led by the ICM-CSIC have warned of the impact that offshore wind power could have on biodiversity and the marine protected areas of the Gulf of Roses and Cap de Creus. Faced with the complexity of this situation and the public concern generated in the region, the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) is leading the EOLO project, a pioneering initiative aimed at closing the historical rift between the scientific community and local government.
Funded through the grant call for the promotion of public innovation culture by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities —under the Policy for Science line—, the project's main objective is to make all available information and scientific evidence accessible to the local councils affected by offshore wind power. This covers how these wind farms will interact with the rich marine biodiversity and the socio-economic values of the Empordà region.
Scientific transfer to the territory
As a benchmark centre for marine research in Europe, the ICM-CSIC is taking on the co-ordination of this interdisciplinary project. The working team, composed of marine ecologists, oceanographers, geographers, engineers, and social anthropologists, also benefits from the essential participation of researchers from the University of Girona (UdG), the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), as well as Seo BirdLife experts.
The role of the ICM-CSIC will be to channel and translate the knowledge accumulated in scientific journals and databases into an accessible language for municipal technicians and elected officials. To achieve this, it will draw on the experience of previous projects such as BIOPAIS (on the impacts of wind energy in high-biodiversity areas), NID4OCEAN (designing inclusive infrastructure to minimise ecological damage), or EMPOWERUS (on the empowerment of local communities).
Those responsible for the EOLO project highlight the urgency of the initiative:
“Scientific advice on offshore wind, biodiversity, and climate change has until now been almost non-existent for local authorities, both in Spain and in Europe, as it has always been centralised within regional, state, or European governments. Town councils, which are the direct representatives of the affected communities, are often left on the sidelines of planning. This generates major social conflict with strategic sectors such as fishing or tourism, which see their traditional fishing grounds and the landscape threatened. With EOLO, we want to equip municipalities with the best knowledge tools so that their voice is grounded in science.”
A strategic alliance
The work programme foresees an intensive cycle of meetings and roundtables, both in-person and online, which will reach the Costa Brava municipalities affected by offshore wind power and its associated infrastructure, such as the power export cable.
Floating offshore wind is a very new technology on a global scale, and knowledge regarding its real ecological impacts is still limited compared to the fixed-bottom structures in the North Sea.
The project aligns with the so-called "Ecosystem Based Approach" and promotes "bottom-up" planning. This represents a profound conceptual shift from traditional "top-down" imposed policies. In addition to direct advice, the project will collect data through surveys aimed at local stakeholders to assess their perception of offshore wind farms and their level of ocean literacy in the face of climate change.
All this knowledge will culminate in the publication of a recommendations document, informative graphic materials, and a major final conference, with the aim that the Empordà framework can serve as a model and be replicated in other areas of the Spanish coast where offshore wind is set to be implemented, such as Galicia, Cantabria, or the Canary Islands.