Fugro survey for Virginia WEA

Located within the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the WEA covers 112,799 acres, 23.5 miles offshore Virginia Beach and the Port of Hampton Roads. The project, which supports Virginia’s goal to make it the ‘Energy Capital of the East Coast’, will develop the offshore energy industry supply chain.

Tom McNeilan, vice president, Fugro Atlantic, said: “Beginning to fill the vacuum of uncertainty with tangible data that characterises the physical and environmental conditions offshore is a critical pre-requisite to appropriate siting of wind energy structures, most notably the use of advanced, environmentally quiet, sub-bottom imaging and recording systems that allow advanced data processing to optimize clarity and detail of the geologic definition of the subsurface.”

The Atlantic OCS has never been developed for energy purposes and there is little knowledge of the character of the seafloor and sub-surface.

Fugro was chosen to carry out the project following its successful execution for the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound – the first commercial scale offshore American windfarm.