Biodiversity Enhanced Scour Protection
Improving the biodiversity in the North Sea with
Mecal Nodes.
Scour protection in offshore windfarms is necessary to guarantee the stability of the monopile. At Mecal, we modified this to have a dual purpose: Maintain the structural integrity, and improve the biodiversity. With this win-win solution, Mecal aims to contribute to a sustainable solution for renewable energy and wildlife conservation.
Mecal Nodes are the solution to adding scour protection and biodiversity to your offshore wind park:
- A technical solution to support subsea wildlife conservation;
- Offers structural support to scour protection systems;
- Can be seamlessly integrated into existing installation methods;
- Engineered to home various species, small and large;
- Possibility of introducing Flat Oyster Larvae to the monopile, furthering ecosystem health.
Hosting a Biodiverse Community
Mecal Nodes can transform existing scour protection into a nature inclusive scour protection system that fosters biodiverse communities, as we utilize a smart design that implements specific shapes and calcareous materials: Micro pores on the surface provide growth opportunities, complexity to the shape of the Node on millimeter scale can foster larval settlement, and centimeter-deep ridges offer refuge for smaller species. Furthermore, larger shape complexities create shelter spaces of up to 20 centimeters for larger species.
This approach offers passive restoration opportunities to the subsea ecosystem surrounding Mecal Nodes as they are able to host a biodiverse community of various species, including the Atlantic Cod, European Lobster, Native Flat Oyster, and general surface growth.
Mecal Nodes also offer the possibility of introducing Oyster-larvae carrying nodes to the subsea environment to further boost ecosystem restoration possibilities.
Flat Oysters are often referred to as “Ecosystem Engineers”, and for good reason. They are able to build a excellent base for thriving ecosystems due to their reef building abilities. Moreover, oysters are also able to improve water quality by filtering the water, and removing excess nitrogen. All in all, restoring the oyster population in the North Sea can foster great biodiversity as they create a hospitable environment for other species. This ensures the resilience and vitality of underwater ecosystems.
Scour Protection
One of the challenges in offshore windfarms is scouring. Scour is a phenomenon where due to water motions, erosion of the seabed sediments occurs and a hole is created around the monopile, the base of the windmill. This means the structural integrity of the windmills is at risk. Scour protection systems are designed to increase the stability of the windmills.
Improving biodiversity around your wind park is made simple by Mecal Nodes due to easy integration to existing scour protection infrastructures.
Elaborate testing sessions have proven the Mecal Nodes to provide stability to the monopile, guaranteeing the safety and security of the scour protection system and therefore wind park, whether this is mixed with stones or not. This means Mecal Nodes can not only offer scour protection to your wind park, the amount of Nodes used in your scour protection system is scalable to your needs.
Easy installation
Mecal Nodes are also easy to install through the use of fall pipe vessels, the current industry standard. During the design process, size and weight limitations of the Mecal Nodes were determined by this installation method.
Therefore, the limitations of the normal ship dimensions are considered to determine the design dimensions limitation. Therefore, the maximum size and weight of Nodes was considered within the rock grading with an EUL (upper rock limit) of less than one-third of the inner diameter of the pipe.