Fugro has started a four-month marine site characterisation campaign for Vattenfall’s 1800MW-each Norfolk Vanguard and Boreas offshore wind farms off the east coast of England.
The data from the geotechnical investigations will feed into the ground model for the two projects, Fugro said.
The company has deployed its DP2 geotechnical drill ship Fugro Scout (pictured) to perform surveys and sampling using its proprietary Seacalf MkV DeepDrive cone penetration testing system.
It will carry out testing both in situ and at the company’s soils laboratories in Wallingford, UK, and Nootdorp in the Netherlands.
The site characterisation work is split across two projects, Fugro said.
The first will help Vattenfall optimise the wind turbine foundation engineering design, while the second will assist the developer in selecting the most efficient cable route from the onshore substation to the turbines.
Vattenfall UK Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas project director Rob Anderson said: “The Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas projects are huge and complicated infrastructure projects requiring long-term planning and support from specialist service providers during their development and beyond.
“We are pleased to partner with Fugro on these important site investigation projects, who we can rely on to provide the necessary geo-data for the next phase of engineering and procurement.”
Fugro marine site characterisation director for Europe and Africa John ten Hoope said: “We have been a trusted partner of Vattenfall in Europe for many years.
“These latest offshore wind contracts have further strengthened our working relationship, which is based not only on Fugro consistently delivering technical excellence but also on shared company values to create a safe and liveable world.”