Fugro has successfully completed four years of continuous survey operations in New Jersey and New York for US-based offshore wind developer Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind.
Supporting the site assessment of five projects across three lease areas totalling 1000 square kilometres, Fugro worked with Atlantic Shores to pioneer a new data collection and management approach that increased survey efficiency by 30%.
It also contributed to the recent federal approval of Atlantic Shores South, which will provide 2.8GW of clean energy to New Jersey.
Traditionally, offshore wind site assessments have required multiple independent campaigns to gather oceanographic, seabed, soil and habitat data.
Fugro streamlined this process by consolidating these efforts into a single, integrated programme aligned with Atlantic Shores’ portfolio strategy.
To manage the large volumes of data associated with this approach – upwards of 100TB – Fugro collaborated with Atlantic Shores to develop Fugro VirGeo.
This cloud-based geo-data engagement and delivery platform provides internal stakeholders with real-time project information for faster decision‑making both in the field and office, Fugro said.
The platform also facilitated the first digital deliverables to federal regulators, supplementing the thousands of pages of reports required by current permitting standards.
This push toward digital deliverables aims to increase transparency, build public trust, and further compress the development timeline through more efficient regulatory reviews, steps critical to achieving the aggressive national goal of deploying 30GW of offshore wind energy by 2030.
Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind chief executive Joris Veldhoven said: “Given the shared values between Fugro and Atlantic Shores, we are proud of the longstanding partnership and commitment to advancing New Jersey’s first offshore wind project.
“Over the last four years our teams have worked tirelessly to ensure we possess the most accurate data to develop our project portfolio safely and responsibly.
“Our partnership has led to industry innovations, advancements, and best practices that are charting the course for clean energy delivery now and for future generations.”
Fugro’s president and group director in the Americas Céline Gerson added: “The energy transition will require companies that are willing to lead by example-that work smarter to move faster while maintaining the highest accuracy and safety standards.
“Atlantic Shores is that kind of company, and we’re incredibly proud to have partnered with them to accelerate their offshore wind development journey.
“We have achieved a great deal together in the last four years, and we’re excited to keep this momentum going during future phases of development, working together to increase renewable energy in the US.”
Throughout the four-year field programme, Fugro achieved Atlantic Shores’ stringent ‘Goal Zero’ safety standard for people and the environment.
This accomplishment was made possible by the safety excellence of Fugro’s own team, as well as their subcontractors Alpine and S T Hudson Engineers, two local survey companies whose work on the project contributes to Atlantic Shores’ commitment to New Jersey job creation.