Offshore wind turbines: an overview of the effects on the marine environment

The wind energy industry is growing worldwide. Recently, a number of physical and numerical modeling studies have been carried out in Europe to implement the offshore wind turbine technology, as well as the wind resource. Accordingly, the consideration of the possible environmental impacts of this technology on the marine environment, already affected by several anthropogenic pressures (e.g. fishery, maritime traffic) becomes increasingly important. Main goal of this paper is to provide an overview of the offshore wind farm developments and the associated environmental impacts at European level. The Italian state of the art is also presented.