Reef stimulation
Because of its location next to the Brown Bank, HKW offers another opportunity: the wind farm is being built in an area where Sabellaria reefs can occur naturally. These reefs are extremely valuable from an ecological perspective as other species like to settle on or near Sabellaria.
For this reason, we want to actively protect reef-building tube worms and stimulate natural reef formation through research and adjustments in our design. Prior to construction of the windfarm, we will map where tube worm reefs occur naturally. We will avoid these areas in the construction of our windfarm and stimulate their further development where possible. For example, we will apply a special material that we know Sabellaria like to settle on, which also contributes to their recovery. As this is highly experimental, we cannot yet say much about the size and/or impact of stimulating natural reef formation.
