Abstract
During the last decade, it has become clear that sand dunes are important features in the Belgian wind farm concession area. Because they influence not only the design seabed levels, but also the hydrodynamic forcings and installation methods for both cable and foundations, the study of the seabed morhodynamics is essential for all wind farm projects.
This paper starts with an overview of the geographic and morphological setting of the Belgian wind farm concession areas and presents an overview of the key features of the bedforms in the different concessions.
Next the importance and impact of the sand dunes during the design and development of these wind farms is illustrated by exploring the different types of studies and investigations which have been performed in relation to seabed & morphology, the hydrodynamic loadings, the installation methods and the environmental impact assessments.