Abstract
Ireland’s expansive marine resource has the potential to provide significant economic growth through the development of critical infrastructure such as offshore renewable energy installations. Offshore wind farm developments may affect the marine environment in a number of ways, including increasing turbidity, development of scour around turbine foundations, as well as erosion around electricity cables. This can have environmental implications, as well as impacts on the operation of the wind farm. For instance, erosion around the electricity cables can result in infrastructural damage leading to operational downtime for the wind farm. To fully understand the seabed response to an offshore windfarm development, a thorough understanding of the hydrodynamics and seabed morphodynamics processes is required. This project will conduct a morphodynamic study of designated areas in the Irish Sea and will involve a geological, geotechnical, sediment transport assessment of the seabed sediments. Repeat surveys will be conducted to assist in understanding seabed changes over time. Furthermore, predictive sediment transport modelling will be used to characterise future seabed changes and to quantify the risk for future potential offshore wind developments in the Irish Sea.