Fugro’s Post

Scottish floating wind farm marks milestone following extensive site investigations - by NIA KAJASTIE, Ground Engineering ''The Ossian joint venture has submitted a consent application to the Scottish Government for one of the largest floating wind projects in the world, following extensive consultation and site investigation work. The proposed Ossian offshore wind project is making progress, with the submission of a consent application for its offshore array to the Scottish Government. A partnership between Scottish renewable energy developer SSE Renewables, Japanese group Marubeni Corporation and Danish fund management firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners is co-developing Ossian. In November 2023, Ossian became the first floating offshore wind farm in the Scotwind leasing round to complete essential geotechnical surveys. At up to 3.6GW of installed capacity, Ossian would be among the largest floating offshore wind farms globally. Once operational, it would be capable of generating enough clean, renewable energy to power up to 6M homes annually.'' #floatingoffshorewind #offshorewind Read more at -

Wood Thilsted is starting ground modelling and foundation concept design work for the first offshore wind farm in Lithuania, which will be built by OW Ocean Winds and Ignitis Group Renewables. The work, which will take place in 2024, consists of the development of a site ground model, support to the geotechnical campaign and a variety of foundation concept assessment activities, including structural design, corrosion protection and geotechnical interpretation. The company has already been involved in the project as it assisted during the desk study phase before the auction. The Lithuanian government held the auction, the country's first for an offshore wind project, last year. In July 2023, the government provisionally selected the joint venture between OW Ocean Winds and Ignitis Lietuva Renewables and three months later, it officially confirmed the joint venture as the developer of the country's first offshore wind farm. The project site is located approximately 30-36 kilometres off Lithuania's Baltic Sea coast and covers an area of approximately 120 square kilometres. Scheduled to begin operations by 2030, the offshore wind farm will have an installed capacity of 700 MW and is expected to generate up to 3 TWh of electricity annually, which would meet up to a quarter of Lithuania's current electricity demand. #renewableenergy #wind #carbon60 #engineering #offshorewind #energy #lithuania

EirGrid Group, the operator and developer of Ireland’s electricity grid, is commissioning aerial habitat surveys off West Cork in the coming weeks to inform the decision-making process for the delivery of its south coast offshore programme. The programme is part of Ireland’s ambition to achieve up to 80% of electricity from clean renewable sources by 2030. EirGrid has been tasked by government to deliver a plan led approach for connecting offshore wind to the electricity grid. As part of the programme, EirGrid will deliver the infrastructure connecting offshore windfarms to the national grid. The windfarms will be delivered by private developers, while EirGrid will deliver the transmission infrastructure, including offshore substations and underwater cables connecting renewable energy sources to the onshore grid. To gather information to inform these project developments, aerial habitat surveys have been commissioned in the coming weeks along the coast of Cork. These surveys will capture ultra-high-resolution imagery along the southern coast of Ireland and will provide a rapid method for data collection. The detailed habitat maps and 3D models produced from the flights will allow the project development team to assess potential development areas remotely from safe locations, reducing the amount of site visits required. In addition, EirGrid has commissioned intertidal bird surveys at potential development areas along the southern coast to determine species present. Experienced bird surveyors will record birds present monthly, in line with industry guidance and best practice. Surveys will focus on species with legal protection and/or those of conservation concern present in intertidal and nearshore habitats. As well as the species, additional information including behaviour will be recorded to provide context to results. Construction work on EirGrid’s offshore connection infrastructure is expected to begin later this decade, to be completed in 2030. This will follow a wide range of studies, extensive public consultation, and consenting processes. Read more below ⬇ https://lnkd.in/dh5Bgwxq

📣 👏 Global Maritime's Geosciences team have been awarded a pivotal piece of work by Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult. The project is focussed on addressing key challenges associated with seabed characterisation and anchor design for floating offshore wind, drawing on Global Maritime's floating wind project development and design experience, our project partners at University of Aberdeen and Subsea Micropiles, and our network of connections in the floating wind sector. Global Maritime’s Director of Geosciences, Gareth Ellery commented, “The cost-effective deployment of floating offshore wind at scale is now of critical importance for renewable energy goals of governments worldwide in the race to net zero. Floating wind encompasses our heritage in floating oil and gas, and over two decades in fixed bottom wind with over 25 floating wind projects globally, to date. We are determined to strategically support the deployment of floating wind and are thrilled with the ORE-Catapult project win.’’ Jordan Geear, Project Manager and Global Lead for Engineering Geology said “The build out of Floating Offshore will require a significant change in the scale and pace of foundation installation. This represents a key challenge to the planning of Site Investigations for Floating Wind projects, in enabling the timely characterisation of the ground conditions across a site, while being resilient to changes in anchor type and location. Effective analysis of ground risk and opportunity will be key to developing robust Site Investigation Strategies for Floating Wind, and we are pleased to be supporting ORE-Catapult in addressing these challenges.” Read the full article here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e2PcbkeW

COWI's fifty-four #offshorewind turbine foundation designs for Equinor's Empire Wind 1 project for New York have received approval from the certified verification Agent (CVA) as required by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. As part of the project, COWI developed advanced methods to analyze and model the behavior of the complex soils the foundations would be installed in. COWI also developed more accurate methods to determine wave loads on the foundation structures. These advancements allowed for more efficient foundations, reducing steel weight, embodied carbon and costs, and are examples of COWI’s commitment to excellence, innovation and advancing the state-of-the-art in offshore wind engineering. https://lnkd.in/e74dUv_7

RWE and Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) have appointed Fugro to undertake detailed geotechnical surveys on the site of the Dogger Bank South (DBS) West offshore wind farm in the UK. DBS DBS comprises two separate sites, DBS East and DBS West located on Dogger Bank, a shallow area of the North Sea over 100km off the North East coast of England. Both DBS project developments are being led by RWE who will deliver project development, construction, and operations on behalf of the partners RWE (51%) and Masdar (49%). “The geotechnical data from these site investigations will give our engineers a detailed and accurate picture of the individual ground conditions at sites of the foundations and associated offshore infrastructure,” said Colin McAllister, Development Project Manager, DBS offshore wind farms. “We already have high-level data about the seabed conditions from reconnaissance surveys conducted in 2022. With the level of detail captured from the new surveys, however, we can design the most effective foundations for each turbine and platform in the project. We expect similar detailed surveys to take place at DBS East in the future.” The Fugro Quest, Fugro Voyager and Normand Mermaid vessels will survey the ground conditions below seabed from May to October 2024 at the location of each proposed turbine and platform foundation, and associated seabed infrastructure. “We are excited to continue working with RWE on this prestigious project,” commented John ten Hoope, Fugro’s Regional Director Marine Site Characterisation. “Our successful combination of innovation technology and expert project teams will safely deliver timely high-quality data and insights crucial to optimising the design of DBS West offshore wind farm. The fieldwork, which comprises seabed cone penetration tests, and vibrocores from the Normand Mermaid and geotechnical boreholes from the Fugro Quest and Fugro Voyager, will start in May 2024. The subsequent extensive laboratory testing will take place in Fugro’s laboratories in the UK.” RWE entered into Agreements for Lease for the two DBS projects with The Crown Estate in January 2023, with both projects potentially totalling 3 GW. RWE and Masdar aim to submit applications for Development Consent Orders in Q2 2024. If successful, RWE and Masdar will then look to secure Contracts for Difference (CfD), followed by financing, construction and commissioning by 2031. #cleanenergy

Key Lessons for building an Offshore Wind Farm in Australia “Australia has all the ingredients for a successful offshore wind industry to be able to reach its full potential” was the key message from a panel discussion ‘Reducing the Uncertainty of Building an Offshore Wind Farm in Australia’ at the Australia Wind Energy Conference in Melbourne this week. To do so, it is critical to benefit from the lessons learned in Europe, with the key lessons summarised below: ·      Future-proof your design: technology is moving fast. ·      Incorporate flexibility as much as possible to keep options open. ·      Provide certainty to investors / ensure bipartisan support. ·      The Australian waters are still relatively unknown - gather, analyse and share 3D Seismic data. ·      Ensure thorough understanding of material properties and correlate this to local ground conditions – don’t just rely on designs. ·      Adopt proven technologies from other parts of the world / other industries where the technology has been used for some time. ·      Start collecting wind turbulence data as early as possible. ·      Stakeholder engagement is vital. ·      Ports infrastructure is costly and in high demand: keep port design flexible, consider a multi-port strategy and/or a secondary use for a port. 

🚀 Exciting News for Offshore Wind Developers! 🌬️ The IJmuiden Ver offshore wind farm zone wind resource assessment has now been fully verified by DNV, meeting the rigorous standards of section 2.3.2 of the DNVGL-SE-0190:2020 Project certification of wind power plants. This milestone exhibits that OWC's assessments are not only technically excellent but align cohesively with the latest industry standards and innovations. 🏆 📊 Key Takeaways: ✅ Third-Party Verified Excellence: Count on us to meet the national and international standards, ensuring minimised project risks to your business. ✅ Investor Confidence: Our independent certifications provide clear evidence of OWC's quality, boosting investor and insurer trust. 🔗 Dive deeper into our cutting-edge methodologies and discover how we lead the industry in #WindandSite assessments for #OffshoreWind: 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/edZX2Vrh #OffshoreWind #WindEnergy #RenewableEnergyConusultants #WindResourceAssessment #DNV #OWC

Kent Secures Pre-FEED Assessment Contract for the Spiorad na Mara Offshore Wind Project    Kent has been awarded a contract by Spiorad na Mara Limited for the pre-front end engineering design (Pre-FEED) assessment of the proposed Spiorad na Mara offshore wind farm. 🔽 Find more info in comments below 🔽 #Kent #SpioradnaMara #PreFEED #OffshoreWindFarm #WindEnergy #OffshoreWindEnergy #RenewableEnergy ⤵️ Click Follow on our page to keep up to date with energy news ⤵️

A brief overview of offshore wind (OW) turbine foundation design, elaborating on the UK's significant strides in adopting OW energy to fulfill its goal of 50GW OW capacity by 2030. Recent accomplishments include the commencement of power generation from the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank OW farm and the 1.1GW Seagreen OW farm, the world's deepest fixed-bottom wind farm. Nevertheless, increasing material prices and global interest rates are posing challenges in terms of construction and financial burden. Various considerations influence the choice of foundation for these turbines, like water depth, seabed conditions, and environmental loading. Monopiles are a frequently used foundation choice due to their simple structure and cost-efficiency. The design and vibratory mode of these monopiles must conform to strict regulations to ensure reliability and durability.