The topics of offshore energy, EMF, and the marine environment are mutually connected because all cables carrying electricity create electromagnetic fields. These cables are needed to bring electricity from offshore wind farms and grid infrastructure to land. Even though power cables are usually buried in the seabed or protected with concrete, there are still cables that cannot be buried or isolated completely due to local seabed conditions. Floating wind farms, for example, require cables that are suspended in water.

While EMFs are naturally occurring in the environment, EMFs produced by electric power cables can interact with other naturally occurring fields and can disguise or distort natural EMF cues that animals use for important life functions.

To address the urgency of this topic and help facilitate fact-based discussions between all users of the sea, 50Hertz,Europacable, EirGrid, Renewables Grid Initiative, and TenneT decided to combine forces and conduct a study on the impacts EMF might have on commercially important flatfish species. The research is especially driven by the need to bring scientific evidence into the discussions related to the expansion of offshore electricity cables and the claim by the fishing industry that a moratorium on underwater cables should be put in place due to environmental damages.