Environmental Siting Suitability Analysis for Commercial Scale Ocean Renewable Energy: A Southeast Florida Case Study

The main goal of this study is to facilitate the siting and full-scale implementation of
Florida Atlantic University Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center (FAU
SNMREC) ocean current energy (OCE) projects as well as other future ocean projects offshore
southeastern Florida through the analysis of benthic anchoring conditions. To realize this goal,
this thesis will address the following objectives: 1) Assemble a comprehensive database of
geologic and benthic parameters relevant to offshore southeast Florida OCE siting 2) Analyze
seafloor geology core and grab samples in order to locate suitable substrate for anchoring 3)
Analyze benthic biologic data to identify biologically sensitive areas which should be avoided in
offshore southeast Florida OCE siting 4) Determine pathways for cables that avoid biologically
sensitive areas 5) Create a finalized spatial layer identifying most likely offshore southeast
Florida suitable areas based on seafloor geology, benthic communities and proximity to cables
routes and 6) Discern what additional datasets are required to address offshore southeast Florida
OCE siting. Preliminary results suggest near shore areas are unsuitable for OCE due to their high
amounts of biologic activity, while areas further offshore likely contain sparse biologic presence
and therefore are better suited for siting OCE. However, higher resolution benthic and seafloor
core data will be necessary to gain a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the
substrate offshore southeastern Florida for the purposes of OCE development.