Geo-data specialist Fugro will undertake a marine site characterisation project comprising a seabed investigation and borehole drilling at the 1400MW capacity Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Zone.
As well as seabed investigation and borehole drilling, the project, which is the largest geotechnical site characterisation programme tendered by the government’s Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl), will see Fugro deliver standard and advanced laboratory testing and an integrated geological/geotechnical soil model which will be used by future developers of the Netherlands wind farm to prepare their bids.
Ruud de Bruijne, RVO.nl’s project manager, said: “It’s very important that the Netherlands Enterprise Agency prepares the best possible package of site studies for future developers of this offshore wind farm.”
Drilling vessel
The fieldwork will utilise Fugro vessels including geotechnical drilling vessel Fugro Scout. Deployment of Fugro’s SEACALF MkIV system for seabed cone penetration testing is expected to boost operational safety as its coiled rod requires no manual handling. The system is also much less weather sensitive than conventional systems, thus increasing productivity by avoiding downtime.
“For these large offshore projects, the availability of efficient systems and having access to the right resources is crucial; being able to mobilise three dedicated geotechnical vessels for this project has been a major part of the success of this tender,” said Sven Plasman, Fugro’s project director at Fugro. “Our SEACALF MkIV system enables us to acquire high quality data in a safe manner, and deliver on time to RVO.nl.”
Work is due to start in April and finish in September.
By Rebecca Jeffrey
