Fugro has begun geophysical surveys for ScottishPower Renewables’ 3100MW East Anglia Hub of offshore wind projects.
The multidisciplinary site investigation contract, worth £55m (€60m), comprises phased site investigations that are scheduled to finish at the end of 2021.
The surveys will support the development of wind farms in the UK southern North Sea over an area of more than 800 square km.
The results from Fugro’s site characterisation will feed into ScottishPower Renewables’ ground models for the East Anglia Hub and support seabed mobility assessment, foundation design and cable-route engineering.
The Fugro team began unexploded ordnance surveys in July from dedicated vessels.
Full coverage bathymetric surveys and sub-bottom profiler surveys across the site and export cable routes will follow. Data processing and reporting will be completed in Fugro’s UK and Netherlands offices.
Geotechnical investigation of the wind turbine locations will start later this summer and will comprise ultra-deep seabed cone penetration tests (CPTs) using Fugro’s Seacalf Mk V DeepDrive CPT system, downhole and seismic CPTs, geotechnical sampling, and geophysical borehole logging.
Shallow geotechnical testing and sampling will be performed along the export cable routes, while standard and advanced soil testing will take place at Fugro’s soil laboratory testing facility in Wallingford, in the UK.
Fugro proposal manager for the project Richard Hill said: “This is a significant and exciting project for Fugro that will see us deploying multiple geophysical and geotechnical vessels from our fleet to the East Anglia Hub for the next two years.
“Fugro’s innovative technologies, experienced geophysical and geotechnical survey teams, and large capacity for advanced soil testing laboratory in the UK will be crucial in helping SPR to meet their project timescales.”
The East Anglia Hub will eventually consist of 263 wind turbines.