Posted on March 10, 2020
Fugro’s multipurpose vessel ‘Fugro Pioneer’ recently left the Port of Sunderland in the UK to kick off a 6-month offshore site investigation and survey campaign for innogy’s Sofia offshore wind farm.
The objective of Fugro’s site investigation is to comprehensively characterise subsurface conditions along the cable route corridor to better understand the benthic ecology and offshore archaeology of the site, and to enable detailed design for the proposed wind farm, which is located 195km off the coast of north-east England.
The site investigation will include surveys performed from five state-of-the-art vessels and will be complemented with a full suite of conventional and advanced laboratory testing. As well as Fugro Pioneer, geophysical survey data will be acquired using the Fugro Frontier and Fugro Seeker; two of Fugro’s geotechnical vessels will then follow to provide drilling, and seabed sampling and in situ testing. Once the Geo-data is acquired, Fugro will produce a ground model for innogy that will provide standardised datasets and interpretation in a clearly identifiable and easy-to-access format.
“For Fugro, this project is an exciting opportunity for multiple vessels and multidisciplinary project teams to work together to provide an excellent service to innogy and support the Sofia team in achieving its objectives from the outset,” said Sally Dalrymple, Senior Project Manager for Fugro.
With a consented capacity of 1.4GW, Sofia will be one of the world’s biggest offshore wind farms; Fugro will provide geophysical and geotechnical services over the project’s 220km export cable corridor, in what is believed to be one of the longest cable route surveys ever performed for an offshore wind farm, as well as further works on the wind farm array.
Fugro describeds itself as the world’s leading Geo-data specialist, collecting and analysing comprehensive information about the Earth and the structures built upon it.
Employing approximately 10,000 people in 65 countries, Netherlands-headquartered Fugro serves clients around the globe, predominantly in the energy and infrastructure industries, both offshore and onshore. In 2019, revenue amounted to EUR?1.6 billion. The company is listed on Euronext Amsterdam.
By Jake Frith
Source: maritimejournal.com
