Fugro UK has secured a multi-million-pound contract from RWE to carry out a geophysical survey for the Five Estuaries offshore wind farm, an extension project of the existing Galloper wind farm off east England.
This is the first RWE led offshore geophysical exploratory work that Five Estuaries offshore wind farm has placed. Works are expected to take place in the Southern North Sea from August to November 2021.
Fugro will utilise three dedicated vessels to map the characteristics of the seabed and bedrock to assess the conditions around the wind farm site and the potential cable locations.
The Dutch-based subsea survey specialist has also been commissioned to carry out offshore site investigation and geophysical work for other RWE projects, including Dublin Array, Ireland, and North Falls, which is a 50:50 partnership project with SSE, in the Southern North Sea.
Umair Patel, Five Estuaries project manager, commented: “Fugro offered the most competitive proposal, programme and has demonstrated technical competence in previous projects. The offshore surveys are a very important aspect of the project’s development and the data collected from these surveys will inform the Environmental Impact Assessment process and also help in the engineering design of the wind farm.”
The Five Estuaries wind farm is currently at a relatively early stage of development and it is anticipated that the project if approved, will become operational around 2030.
