In late September, the first large-scale commercial seaweed farm, located between offshore wind turbines, went live off the coast of the Netherlands. North Sea Farm 1 covers five hectares and aims to test and improve seaweed cultivation, as well as pioneer scientific research to explore the potential of seaweed farms to capture and store carbon, helping to combat climate change. North Sea Farm 1 is led by North Sea Farmers (NSF) together with a consortium of European scientists and research organizations. The farm and a year-long scientific study into the carbon-capturing potential of seaweed are funded by Amazon’s Right Now Climate Fund, a $100 million global initiative to support climate resilience and conservation.
Located within the Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ) wind farm, approximately 18 kilometres off the coast of Scheveningen, the farm will produce at least 6.000 kilograms of seaweed in its first year. This seaweed can be used for a wide range of products, including clothing, food and wellness products. If other seaweed producers follow suit, North Sea Farm 1 could serve as a blueprint for offshore seaweed cultivation worldwide and become a catalyst for the growth of the European seaweed sector.
Eef Brouwers, Managing Director of NSF, said: “North Sea Farm 1 is located in a previously unused area between wind turbines, allowing the project to expand seaweed farming into the otherwise intensively used North Sea. If seaweed farms were to expand into the space occupied by wind farms, expected to reach around 1 million hectares by 2040, this could capture and avoid millions of tonnes of CO2 annually.”
Roeland Donker, Country Manager of Amazon Netherlands, added: “This project plays a crucial role in Amazon’s broader sustainability story and everything we’re doing to explore and support ways to restore biodiversity and help combat climate change. There’s so much more to discover and learn from seaweed farming and carbon sequestration in our oceans, and that we can play a role in this, by supporting the research of North Sea Farmers and their partners, is incredibly exciting.”
Felix Leinemann, Head of Unit Blue Economy Sectors, Aquaculture and Maritime Spatial Planning at the European Commission, said: “Seaweed cultivation can contribute to achieving the EU’s goals of decarbonisation, zero pollution, circularity, biodiversity conservation and restoration, ecosystem protection and the development of environmental services. This is in line with what the European Commission wants to promote through the EU Algae Initiative. What is special about this project is that it models the impact of large-scale seaweed cultivation within an offshore wind farm. It will hopefully prove that multiple use of limited space at sea is not just a concept but a reality and can eventually be commercially viable.”
Financing by Amazon
Amazon has made €1,5 million available for the establishment of North Sea Farm 1 and a year of scientific research into CO2 reduction through seaweed cultivation. This investment is part of Amazon's global Right Now Climate Fund, which includes €100 million worldwide and is intended to support climate and biodiversity projects that benefit both people and the planet.
Source: North Sea Farmers
