Site investigations clear the way for Irish offshore wind farm

The offshore wind farm will support the Irish Republic’s target of producing 7GW of offshore wind energy by 2030. It is located between 6km and 13 km off the coast of Ireland in an area known for its unpredictable meteorological and oceanographic conditions.

Fugro developed a bespoke casing system designed for the offshore site conditions to enable survey work to be completed with minimal downtime. The acquired geo-data will be used to understand the site’s subsurface conditions and support foundation designs and installation.
Fugro also engineered a full suite of specially-designed handling devices to remove the need to handle conductor casings manually, thereby improving health and safety of deck crew and ensuring deployment efficiency within the short slack-water windows.
Laboratory testing is currently underway, building on the site testing completed in Fugro’s offshore laboratory. When complete, the 800MW wind farm will be capable of powering almost 850,000 homes with green energy and offset 830 billion kilograms of carbon emissions each year, according to SSE.

John O’Sullivan, SSE Renewables’ project manager for the Arklow Bank Wind Park Phase 2 project, said: “The successful completion of this ground investigation campaign is another key milestone for the Arklow project. It has enabled us to gain a much clearer understanding of the seabed conditions within the lease area. This enhanced site characterisation greatly supports our ongoing design development works in the lead up to the first offshore energy auction,”
Matthew Chappell, Fugro’s director of site investigations said: “By working closely and collaboratively with SSE Renewables and DEME, who provided the Neptune live-aboard jack-up barge, we were able to deliver the perfect solution for the Arklow Bank Wind Park site investigation.

“Our experience in marine operations and geotechnical surveys allowed us to develop an innovative solution for the site conditions and is certainly something we’re proud of. Our geo-data will not only reduce project risk and uncertainties but will help inform future developmental phases of the project.”

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