Sacrificial Anodes protect wind turbines from corrosion, but their components also get into the water.
The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), in cooperation with the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, has for the first time been able to measure components from sacrificial anodes in the water and sediment around offshore wind farms in the North Sea. Even if no direct effects on the marine environment are currently apparent, so-called impressed current cathodic protection systems are to be increasingly used for corrosion protection in the future.
The expansion of offshore wind energy production in the North Sea and Baltic Sea is an important part of the energy transition. Currently, more than 1500 wind turbines and 30 transformer and converter platforms are already in operation in German marine waters. As part of the research project “Chemical Emissions from Offshore Wind Turbines” (OffChEm), the BSH and Hereon have investigated the extent to which components of galvanic anodes, so-called sacrificial anodes, are released into the marine environment. Sacrificial anodes protect offshore wind turbines from corrosion by dissolving themselves. Together, the BSH and Hereon recently published a summary of the project results.
The results have been published in several scientific articles. In addition, the results will be made available to the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) Network of Experts, where they will contribute to the topic area “Environment and Transport” and the key topic “Construction and Construction-related Emissions”. The research is currently being continued as part of the follow-up project “Chemical emissions from offshore wind turbines: possible influences on the marine environment and their assessment” (OffChEm II). The focus here is on the investigation of offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea. (Source: Hereon Press Release)
Read the complete Hereon press release:
==> Offshore wind farms: Components of corrosion protection detected in the North Sea
Further information:
==> Summary of the project OffChEm (BSH & Hereon, 2022, German)
==> Project OffChEm (Dep. Inorganic Environmental Chemistry, Hereon)
Publications:
Klein, O., Zimmermann, T., Ebeling, A., Kruse, M., Kirchgeorg, T., & Pröfrock, D. (2022): Occurrence and Temporal Variation of Technology-Critical Elements in North Sea Sediments – A Determination of Preliminary Reference Values. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol (2022), doi:10.1007/s00244-022-00929-4
Ebeling, A., Zimmermann, T., Klein, O., Irrgeher, J., & Pröfrock, D. (2022): Analysis of Seventeen Certified Water Reference Materials for Trace and Technology-Critical Elements. Geostand Geoanal Res., doi:10.1111/ggr.12422
Reese, A., Voigt, N., Zimmermann, T., Irrgeher, J., & Pröfrock, D. (2020): Characterization of alloying components in galvanic anodes as potential environmental tracers for heavy metal emissions from offshore wind structures. Chemosphere, Volume 257, 127182, doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127182
Kirchgeorg, T., Weinberg, I., Hörnig, M., Baier, R., Schmid, M.J., Brockmeyer, B. (2018): Emissions from corrosion protection systems of offshore wind farms: Evaluation of the potential impact on the marine environment. Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 136, 257-267, doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.08.058