RWE, a world leader in offshore wind, and UK-based nature-inclusive design pioneer ARC Marine have achieved a global first at Rampion Offshore Wind Farm by installing specially eco-engineered Reef cubes as undersea protection for turbine foundations. Around 75,000 Reef cubes, ranging in size from 15 cm to 35 cm, were installed at the base of one of the turbines at the Rampion offshore wind farm in recent days by specialist contractor Rohde Nielsen.

Pioneering Technology Deployment

This marks the first real-world deployment of the patented Reef cubes as scour protection at an operational wind farm, forming part of the Reef Enhancement for Scour Protection (RESP) pilot. The installation follows an earlier announcement in July of RWE and ARC Marine's partnership. The pioneering solution is designed to protect critical energy infrastructure from strong currents in the subsea environment while creating new and extending existing living marine habitats.

Thomas Michel, COO of RWE Offshore Wind, stated: “We are delighted to have reached this important milestone at Rampion in collaboration with our partners ARC Marine and Rohde Nielsen. The successful implementation of this pilot project marks an important step forward in testing solutions that can both safeguard our assets and contribute to the marine environment. We look forward to monitoring the outcomes and sharing the learnings with our stakeholders and the wider industry.”

Enhanced Marine Habitat Creation

The Reef cubes provide over 100% more volume of habitat spaces than standard rock protection and 38% more surface area, according to Tom Birbeck, CEO of ARC Marine. At just one of the Rampion turbines, the Reef cubes are providing a habitat surface area of 25,000 square meters. The structure of the cubes provides habitats for marine life, supports fish populations, facilitates shellfish colonization, and contributes to broader ecosystem development.

Scour protection is a standard practice at offshore wind farms and usually involves placing layers of rock on the seabed around the base of a turbine foundation. Reef cubes offer an alternative that provides equally effective protection from erosion but also enhanced biodiversity. They are modular, lighter, easy to install, and designed to turn protection zones into thriving ecosystems.

Technology Specifications and Benefits

By using a patented shape and optimized surface texture, the Reef cubes provide engineering and marine life benefits by more than doubling the potential habitat space compared to traditional rock-based products. Tom Birbeck explained: “This project is a landmark moment for ARC Marine and our Reef cubes technology. Seeing them installed at Rampion demonstrates their potential to deliver dual benefits: robust scour protection and the creation of new marine habitats.

This installation marks the start of global deployment potential for Reef cubes at offshore turbines and platforms. They are scalable, locally sourced, cost-effective, and fully aligned with incoming biodiversity net gain requirements, and we are proud to work with RWE on pioneering a new generation of nature-inclusive offshore wind solutions.”

Monitoring and Future Development

The use of the Reef cubes is aligned with RWE's commitment to delivering biodiversity-positive offshore wind farms. This collaborative pilot has been designed to test and advance solutions that can provide both engineering performance and environmental benefits. The RESP pilot will next move into a monitoring phase, with ecological and geophysical surveys to be conducted between 2026 and 2030 to assess the cubes' performance as a scour protection system and to study how marine life interacts with the structures over time.

Ecological and engineering data will be shared from 2026, offering a first glimpse at the real-world viability of nature-inclusive protection structures. The Rampion Offshore Wind Farm Project has been driven by close collaboration between RWE's Engineering, Innovation, Construction, and Sustainability teams, ARC Marine's engineering, science, manufacturing, and marine operations teams, and Rohde Nielsen.

Innovate UK, European Innovation Council, and The Mulago Foundation have also supported the project. Scour protection is defined as a protective layer placed on the seabed at the base of offshore wind turbine foundations to protect them from erosion by strong currents, traditionally provided by rock armour. Nature-Inclusive Design is described as a design philosophy targeted at integrating ecosystems, or specific habitats and species, with man-made architecture and infrastructure through the intentional incorporation of habitat features, with the objective of increasing biodiversity within infrastructure required at offshore windfarms.

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