Fugro has been given a geophysical survey contract for two offshore wind farm sites in the German exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the North Sea by Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, known as the Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH).
BSH will use Fugro’s Geo-data in conjunction with Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems’ (IWES) ultra high resolution multichannel seismic data (UHR MCS) to create geological models of the offshore sites and support ensuing geotechnical investigations. This week, Fugro will mobilize a specialized survey vessel for the project in order to begin high-precision positioning, sub-bottom profiling recording, and interpretation.
Fraunhofer IWES will also be in charge of carrying out the specialised data processing and analysis as well as the multichannel seismic survey. A 2393 km survey line dense data raster will be produced. The UHR MCS data penetrates more than 100 meters to capture images of small sedimentary bodies and deep valley structures cut by glaciers and filled with younger sediments, whilst the sub-bottom profiler data gives precise structural imaging of sediments up to 15 m beneath the seafloor.
Energy transition
The sharing of expertise and resources between the two teams will ensure a secure and effective survey that adheres to BSH’s strict planning timeline. The outcome will be a preliminary subsurface model that may be utilized as the foundation for next geotechnical survey campaigns and to lower the risk associated with the development of wind farms in the future.
The locations will be crucial to Germany’s energy transition strategy, which aims to reach a target of 30 GW by 2030. The locations are scheduled to be auctioned off in the upcoming years.
Image source: Fugro
