Crown Estate has commenced surveys in the Celtic Sea as part of preparations for floating wind development.
A Fugro-operated vessel, which has a crew of 30, will spend around 100 days at sea, using towed and hull-mounted sensors to gather geophysical data on the properties of the seabed and sub-seabed.
They are the first in a series of studies funded by the Crown Estate as it looks to accelerate plans for new floating offshore wind farms in the Celtic Sea, off the coast of Wales and south-west England.
The multi-million-pound programme includes plans for further surveys over the next two years which will see data collected on everything from wind and wave patterns to birds and marine mammals in the area.
The studies have been designed to deliver strong, reliable datasets which will not only inform the Crown Estate’s own understanding of the seabed, but will be made freely available to successful bidders to support their own decision making and future progress through the planning process.
The surveys follow publication by the Crown Estate on 4 July of the proposed locations of the wind farms, with four project sites set to deliver up to 4GW of floating wind capacity.
This would be enough to power around four million homes, making it one of the largest such initiatives in the world.
As part of this update, the Crown Estate also set out how developers will be required to recognise the critical role of ports when bidding to build the new floating wind farms; and how it intends to drive social value through the auction process.
Crown Estate head of new ventures Nicola Clay said: “After many months of careful preparation and planning, these surveys mark an exciting step forward for our plans to establish new floating wind technology of the coast of Wales and South West England.
“By better understanding the physical and environmental properties of the proposed sites, we are able to help remove some of the barriers and risks developers face when moving through the planning process, while also helping assess and manage any environmental impacts.”