Fugro has been awarded a contract by ESB and JERA Nex bp to carry out a detailed geotechnical site investigation for the planned 375MW Oriel offshore wind farm off County Louth in Ireland.
The work will inform the design and installation of foundations for 25 offshore wind turbines, the companies said.
They added that the project is being jointly developed by JERA Nex bp and Irish semi-state utility ESB and is planned to be among Ireland’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farms.
The geotechnical campaign is underway following mobilisation of the Fugro Voyager to the site in the Irish Sea.
The vessel is equipped with Fugro’s SEADEVIL coring system designed to recover high-quality soil samples in complex offshore environments.
The investigation programme includes cone penetration testing, wireline geophysics and laboratory analysis at Fugro’s Wallingford facility in water depths of up to 33 metres.
The resulting Geo-data will support turbine foundation design and help reduce installation risk as the project progresses.
“Partnering with Fugro on this geotechnical survey campaign represents an important milestone, enabling us to progress our detailed project design and bringing us closer to realising the Oriel project and contributing to Ireland’s offshore wind ambitions,” said Garrett Connell, Ireland country manager at JERA Nex bp.
“Early access to high-quality Geo-data is critical for projects of this scale,” said Remmelt de Jong, regional business line director for marine site characterisation in Europe and Africa at Fugro.