Global marine consultancy ABPmer has been commissioned to complete the physical process impact assessment in support of the development consent order application for Blue Gem Wind’s 96MW Erebus floating offshore wind farm in the Celtic Sea off Wales.
ABPmer is part of the marine Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) team being led by MarineSpace.
The company will investigate the potential effects of the WindFloat floating wind platform and supporting infrastructure on the wave, flow and sediment transport regime through construction, operation and decommissioning of the wind farm.
It said that new physical process impact assessment methods will be developed to account for the different underwater profile and mooring systems used by the WindFloat platform.
Existing methods and evidence will be used to inform the assessment of potential impacts from the more traditional transmission infrastructure, ABPmer added.
ABPmer renewables business manager Tony Brooks said “We are very excited to be part of the Erebus team, the move to floating wind will further harness the UK’s offshore wind resource and should contribute significantly to the government’s target of being a net zero emitter of carbon by 2050.
“We are expertly placed to deliver this element of the EIA, having provided physical processes and metocean support to over 35 other offshore wind projects around the UK and overseas.”
Blue Gem Wind is a joint venture between Simply Blue Energy and Total.