Subsea robotic and hydrographic survey group Rovco has received a contract to provide offshore rock bag deployment and installation at the Galloper Offshore Wind Farm in the Outer Thames Estuary.
The project scope covers the application of an operator engineered solution for the installation of rock bags, which need to be placed at precise locations on and around the Cable Protection Systems (CPS) on the wind farm, located 27km off the Suffolk coast.
Following previous subsea surveys, rock bag placement was selected from a number of options considered by the operator as the most suitable solution to eliminate or vastly reduce excess cable movement of the CPS, stabilising and prolonging the life of the array cables which carry the generated electricity from the wind turbines.
Rovco will deploy the DPII subsea support vessel VOS Star, on charter from Vroon Offshore Services, during the project. The vessel will be pre-installed with cutting-edge survey equipment and Rovco’s powerful Seaeye Leopard WROV which will be fully calibrated, and system tested for swift commencement.
The project is led by personnel from Rovco’s experienced offshore team and a dedicated onshore project manager who will be assigned to the project throughout, to ensure safe and efficient operations.
The 353MW Galloper Offshore Wind Farm has a site area of 180sq km with wind turbine generators located in depths between 26.5m-39.5m (LAT). Galloper’s 56 turbines will generate enough green electricity every year to power the equivalent of more than 380,000 average homes in the UK.
Sean Chenery, General Manager at Galloper Offshore Wind Farm said: “We selected Rovco to install the rock bag solution due to their knowledge, experience and competitiveness in subsea operations. Placing rock bags on live cables at water depths of 26m-39m with tight tolerances is where Rovco’s equipment excels.”
Simon Miller, Chief Revenue Officer of Rovco, and its sister company Vaarst, added: “Engineering solutions to extend the life of critical subsea infrastructure and ensuring uptime of these offshore assets and installations is crucial.
“This award by Galloper Offshore Wind Farm, to help them detect issues and implement their designed solution post engineering analysis, is testament to our team’s efforts across the company and real recognition of our growing presence in this market.”