UK west coast offshore surveys
Bibby HydroMap, the UK-based hydrographic and land survey organisation, reports successful completion of major surveys for the €30m Swedish-owned Deep Green tidal current marine energy project offshore Holyhead, west of Anglesey, UK.
Supported by an EU grant of €13m via the Welsh government, the project is designed to maximise electricity generation from low velocity tidal currents and is expected to supply power to the equivalent of 8,000 households.
Objectives of the surveys included a detailed understanding of seabed levels as well as the characteristics and shallow geology of the proposed development area in addition to assessments of an associated export cable route corridor and environmental studies. Technical aspects completed aboard Bibby HydroMap’s 26-metre survey vessesl, Chartwell, involved acquisition of bathymetric, sidescan sonar and sub-bottom profiler data supported by benthic grab samples and drop-down camera stills.
Meanwhile, Bibby HydroMap has recently commenced comparable survey operations for a proposed LNG project off Morecambe Bay for which two company vessels are being used for geophysical, geotechnical and environmental surveys of a proposed offshore pipeline route. Work includes detailed multibeam bathymetry, sidescan sonar, sub-bottom profiling and acquisition of magnetometer data together with benthic grab samples and detailed visual inspections.
By David Goodfellow
