University College Dublin (UCD) has teamed up with Codling Wind Park, a new offshore wind venture, to explore the potential for restoring native oyster reefs and seagrass beds at selected sites in the Dublin Bay area.
The research partnership, which will be funded by Codling Wind Park, aims to promote and enhance marine biodiversity. It will also investigate how more inclusive engineering designs can enhance habitats for native species.
Codling Wind Park, the State’s largest phase-one offshore wind project, will be located about 13km to 22km off the Wicklow coast between Greystones and Wicklow town. If approved it will generate 1,300 megawatts of clean electricity, enough to power more than a million homes.
Codling’s project director Scott Sutherland said the partnership with UCD formed a key element of the first phase of the project’s biodiversity strategy.
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“Codling Wind Park will supply over a quarter of Ireland’s 2030 offshore wind target and displace up to 1.7 million tonnes of carbon, contributing significantly to the country’s national climate targets,” he said.
“We recognise, however, that in parallel with the current climate crisis we are facing a global biodiversity emergency and that it is our responsibility to develop the project in a manner that protects and where possible enhances biodiversity,” he said.
Assistant Professor Paul Brooks of UCD’s school of biology and environmental science said one of the aims of the project was “to broaden our understanding of the uses of nature-based solutions in restoring and promoting biodiversity”.
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