North Sea Farm #1 installed

2026-11-12

North Sea Farm #1 is back in the water for two new seasons

The seaweed farm is in place. After weeks of preparation and a busy installation and seeding campaign, North Sea Farm #1 is operational for its second season in offshore wind farm Hollandse Kust Zuid, operated by Vattenfall. It’s located about 22 kilometres off the coast of Scheveningen. It was not always plain sailing, but thanks to the hard work and flexibility all parties involved, it was a successful operation.

Where it started

In 2020 the idea was conceived to setup a showcase production project by and for the European seaweed industry. This lead to the first season for the North Sea Farm #1 in August 2024. At that time it was the first demonstration farm for commercial seaweed cultivation inside an offshore wind farm world wide. The project was coordinated by the European Seaweed Association (ESWA), based in The Hague, with funding from the Amazon’s Right Now Climate Fund. In July 2025 this led to a successful first harvest, which attracted wide media attention in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe.

The first harvest in July 2025.

Two more seasons

The North Sea Farm #1 project has now secured enough funding to continue for two more seasons. This means extra time to improve production, to perform climate and biodiversity research and to collect more operational performance data. The funding is provided by Interreg Flanders–Netherlands (Wier & Wind 2), Stichting DOEN and Schmidt Marine Technology Partners.

The project works towards four goals:

Technical feasibility: showing that large-scale seaweed cultivation is possible in offshore wind farms – the anticipated location for scale-up of the sector.
Economic viability: demonstrate that the NSF#1 produced seaweeds can be used in everyday products that European consumers want.
Ecological & climate impact: Scientific research based on field-measurements analysing the impacts on climate and biodiversity. The project expects positive impacts through carbon sequestrion/avoidance and seabed habitat development.
Innovation in multi-use of space: There is a joint ambition of North Sea countries to develop up to 300 GW of offshore wind by 2050. These wind farms form the perfect opportunity to start scaling seaweed production in Europe. The NSF#1 project aims to demonstrate that multi-use seaweed production is ready for this opportunity.

A large scale seaweed industry will produce enough biomass to supply sustainable product alternatives to European markets in food, packaging, biostimulants, cosmetics and biobased-materials; low-carbon, low-fertilizer, low-fresh water, low land-use, healthy and no plastic pollution.

From the quayside to the wind farm

The work started on land. In the port of Scheveningen, the team spent days preparing lines, buoys, anchors and chain for the trip offshore. Once everything was loaded, the installation vessel sailed out to the open North Sea, past the green-and-white harbour lights, heading for the wind farm.

The vessel Waalstroom sailing out of Scheveningen/The Hague harbour

“The location of the North Sea Farm#1 project is ideally located in the wind farm Hollandse Kust Zuid. It’s very close to The Hague with its harbour Scheveningen. The harbour provides quick access to the sea and is only 1 hour sailing from the farm. The Hague is an ideal place in Europe to receive any stakeholders that want to learn more about this European joint industry project ,” says Eef Brouwers, General Manager of ESWA.

The installation took place in two stages. First, the farm's main infrastructure was installed: the anchors, chains, lines and buoys that hold everything together in the open water. Only once that was complete could the second stage begin, the seeding. Back on land, on 10 November, rope-based net structures were seeded with sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima), a brown seaweed also known as royal kombu. The seeded nets were then hoisted on board and taken back out to be attached to the farm structure at sea.

Seeding of the nets.

Setback during installation

Working offshore rarely goes exactly to plan, and this campaign was no exception. Recovering earlier deployed anchor chains proved more difficult than expected, and an extra vessel with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) had to be brought in to connect the recovery lines subsea. With that fixed, the work could continue and on Monday 9 November the farm infrastructure was successfully installed

The vessel Baltic Explorer assisted with a remotely operated vehicle

Seeding

The next day, very early in the morning the seaweed substrated, rope-based net structures, where seeded in the harbour and then brought out to sea. There they were connected to the farm and deployed. At the same time, the scientific team took out their equipment to collect seabed samples as part of the research into the farm's effects on the marine environment and biodiversity.

The seeded nets are attached to the installation and then will be lowered into the water.

"It hasn't always been an easy journey, but thanks dedicated contribution of all partners, we managed to complete the installation and seeding successfully for the project’s second season. We can all be proud of this milestone and we look forward to this project giving valuable contributions to the development of the wider industry" – Remon Tas, Project Manager North Sea Farm #1

What's next

Now it is up to the seaweed. Over the next five to six months it will gradually grow to plants of rough 1.5m long, until their planned harvest in spring 2027. Then the harvested seaweed will be used by European seaweed companies to manufacture and test prototypes of food, biostimulant, food, cosmetics and biobased materials products.

Why it matters

The wind farm where North Sea Farm #1 is located

Space at sea is becoming one of Europe's most valuable resources. North Sea Farm #1 grows seaweed in the open space between wind turbines. It was the world's first commercial-scale seaweed farm inside an offshore wind farm, and it serves as a testing ground for making seaweed farming at sea safe, robust and productive. What happens here matters well beyond this one farm:

More from the same space: combining renewable energy, food and raw materials in one area shows how Europe's seas can be used more efficiently as offshore wind keeps growing.
Food and materials with a low footprint: seaweed needs no fresh water, fertiliser or farmland, making it a promising source of protein and biobased materials for the energy and protein transition.
Building a new European industry: real-world data from the farm helps make the business case for offshore seaweed farming, an industry that creates jobs in ports, shipping, cultivation and processing.
A working harbour, new jobs and business: preparation, loading and departure all take place in the harbour, creating work for local companies, quays, vessels and crews.
A blueprint for the future: every season brings lessons that can help wind farms across Europe make room for seaweed cultivation.

Thank you to our partners

The new seasons of North Sea Farm #1 are made possible by:

Wier & Wind 2, supported through the Interreg Flanders–Netherlands programme and co-funded by the European Union, with consortium partners Kaayman, De Blauwe Cluster, Boeg Nautic, HZ University of Applied Sciences, ILVO, Murre Technologies, CIV Den Oever and Doggerland Offshore
Stichting DOEN and Schmidt Marine Technology Partners
Research partners: NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, ALGAIA - JRS Group, SEAWISER, Hortimare and Wageningen University & Research

About ESWA

The European Seaweed Association (ESWA) is based in The Hague and represents the European seaweed sector. Its aim is to build an economically healthy European seaweed industry within planetary boundaries.