Renewable energy integration in aquaculture through the water-energy-food nexus: A structured review of technologies and modelling approaches

Aquaculture and fisheries are important contributors to global food supply but are highly energy and water-intensive, relying heavily on fossil fuels and contributing substantially to greenhouse-gas emissions. The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus provides a framework for managing these interdependencies, and integrating Renewable Energy Sources (RES) is a key pathway towards more sustainable production. This paper presents a structured review of RES integration in aquaculture examined through the WEF nexus, covering both renewable-energy technologies and the modelling approaches used to assess them. Literature was retrieved from ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Web of Science for the period 2001–2025; of 10,419 records identified, 66 studies met the eligibility and methodological-robustness criteria and were synthesised by technology and by modelling family. Within these boundaries, the review finds that solar photovoltaics, particularly floating-PV and aquavoltaic configurations, are the most developed and feasible option, providing on-site electricity alongside other benefits such as reduced evaporation. Meanwhile offshore and floating wind and other marine renewable energy show strong potential for emerging co-located and multi-use offshore systems. Wave energy and multi-source hybrid systems remain at an earlier stage of development. Feasibility is strongly site-dependent, conditioned by local resource availability, grid access, technology maturity, and biofouling and maintenance costs. Modelling effort concentrates on life-cycle and techno-economic assessment, system dynamics, optimisation, digital twins and machine learning, and spatial and agent-based methods, which are organised into a model-family taxonomy. The review concludes that RES integration is technically feasible but not universally uniform, and that progress is constrained by single-technology and short-term studies, inconsistent system boundaries, and few validated multi-source or long-term systems. Standardised reporting and interdisciplinary modelling that links environmental performance, cost, and production reliability are identified as priorities.