Offshore wind farms may be quietly stealing rain from Europe's coasts; study says

Europe is counting on offshore wind to move away from fossil fuels, and the North Sea is at the centre of that plan. The European Union wants 300 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2050. A new study from Germany suggests turbines at that scale could do more than generate electricity. They could also change where rain falls.Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon found that very large offshore wind farm clusters may push more rain over the sea and leave parts of the coastline drier. In their simulations, coastal areas in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom saw rainfall drop by up to 15%. The findings were published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.Turbines slow the wind and stir up the air above the seaA wind turbine works by taking energy out of moving air.