Offshore Wind Farm Doubles as Fish Farm

Floating wind-fishery integration project "Guoneng Sharing," Putian City, Fujian Province, October 31, 2023. /CFP

Fish are raised in the empty space at the base of an offshore wind power installation located in Fujian Province. It's a part of a creative initiative to support oceanic green development.

The facility in the city of Putian known as "Guoneng Sharing" is the first integrated design in the world to combine aquaculture and deep-sea floating wind power.

It is made up of an anchoring and mooring system, a 4-megawatt wind turbine, and a floating platform. The equilateral triangle-shaped floating platform is a semisubmersible construction with three columns, measuring 28 meters in height and 14 meters in draft.

An aquaculture net cage is located inside the triangle. Some 10,000 cubic meters of water are required in fish farming, which is sufficient to raise medium-sized fish fry for more than a year.

The platform is secured using nine anchor chains, each measuring around 431 meters, with three mooring cables connecting each column to ensure safe and steady operations at sea.

"We chose Putian because it has rich wind resources. Now the equipment is being adjusted and tested," said Feng Xiaoxing, deputy chief engineer of Jiangsu Longyuan Zhenhua Marine Engineering Co, which developed the facility.

He claimed that while operating at full capacity, the system will generate 20 million kilowatt-hours yearly to meet the demands of the entire nation. The equipment can be controlled remotely or left in fully autonomous mode.

"Raising fish requires a large amount of water, so by making use of the spare space below the floating platform we can improve utility efficiency and maximize the benefits. Also, the deep sea has good water quality for fish farming," he said.

According to experts, the initiative produced a new model to "produce green products underwater and clean energy on water," providing an example of sustainable use of coastal areas for the country to realize the unity of ecological, economic and social benefits.