Offshore wind may be good for the climate but can it be good for the ocean, too?

Offshore wind farms are expanding rapidly in China and Europe, and experts say the technology is vital to fighting climate change, but a 2025 paper found 86% of possible ecosystem impacts remain unknown. The structures can act as artificial reefs sheltering sharks, rays and crustaceans while also limiting harmful fishing practices like bottom trawling.

But turbines also risk bird and bat collisions, and some marine mammals change behavior or avoid the farms entirely. Scotland's planned Berwick Bank Wind Farm, with 307 turbines powering roughly six million homes, was approved despite environmental assessments predicting thousands of seabird deaths in its first year, prompting a compensation plan funding onshore habitat protections.

Experts including The Nature Conservancy's Louise Combret say the fix is better upfront planning, mapping ecologically sensitive areas before turbines go in the water, rather than after. So far only 13 European countries have sensitivity maps, and researchers say implementation varies widely even where the maps exist. Notably, NOAA has found no scientific evidence supporting claims that offshore wind causes whale deaths, a narrative the piece attributes to misinformation campaigns.

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