The scientific communities and regulatory agencies are slowly but solidly agreeing to focus attention "[o]n the Effect of Offshore Wind Farms on the Atmosphere and Ocean Dynamics" Follow the figures below for a quick summary. (Note light blue square is a 5km by 5km ocean windfarm)
Elke Ludwig's above study is behind a paywall but she is only one of a growing number of scientists willing to agree that windpower is an extractive industry.
And that chronic ocean wind energy extraction from a floating or grouted-in ocean wind park has measurable effects on the velocity of surface water downstream of each turbine.
And that this becomes an energy deficit in the waters below that surface water, both reducing the Coriolis Effect on water direction, and empowering the upwelling of waters normally below the thermocline.
The big question is: how much wind energy extraction must take place before water column energetics lower enough to destabilize the water column - especially in the summer, when GOM waters are normally pretty stratified?
And what will that cause, ecologically speaking?
A smaller farm: about 200 million cubic meters of water upwelling per day
A larger farm: about 1 billion, 600 million cubic meters of water upwelling per day. That according to the author's "guesstimate", below the Summary, Conclusion, and Outlook.
