The North Sea expansion of the portal will map the distribution and behaviour of vulnerable species in relation to planned and existing wind farms. Such information is required for mandated environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and development planning purposes.
Approval for offshore wind farms in the North Sea are subject to the outcome of EIAs. Such assessments require quantitative analyses of the project region and its surrounding areas.
With the MAMP’s North Sea expansion, harmful environmental impacts can be identified early so mitigation solutions can be pursued, and scheduling issues and investment risks can be reduced.
The portal’s expansion is timely and valuable for countries attempting to use offshore wind farms to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and meet the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement.
How does the portal work?
The North Sea expansion is part of DHI’s efforts to scale up the MAMP to include all major offshore wind farm hubs around the world. The original MAMP successfully launched in 2020 in the Barents Sea.
Using novel spatial ecological modelling approaches and available survey data, the MAMP identifies the location of vulnerable seabird and marine mammals. The MAMP also models these species’ responses to human impacts, like wind farms. The modelling results produced by MAMP can be visualised, downloaded and used in further risk analyses and EIAs.
You can influence MAMP development
DHI is in negotiation with founding MAMP users and is interested in collaborating with authorities, energy developers and other organisations that want to support and influence the North Sea portal expansion.
If you are interested in becoming a MAMP North Sea influencer, please get in touch with DHI before January 1.
Contact information:
Frank Thomsen
(frth@dhigroup.com), Senior Scientist and MAMP Product Owner
Mikael Kamp Sørensen
(mks@dhigroup.com), Head of DHI’s Ecology and Environment Department