Dutch offshore survey services firm Fugro will provide geotechnical site investigation services for BP's and EnBW's new offshore wind farms, Morgan and Mona, located in the Irish Sea.
The two wind farms, which will mark BP's entry into the UK’s offshore wind farm power sector, will when complete have a combined generating capacity of 3 GW, sufficient to power the equivalent of 3.4 million UK households with electricity.
Fugro said that fieldwork would run from May to September 2022, with the site located approximately 30 km off the coast of North Wales and North West England in an area known for its severe currents and challenging offshore environment.
Fugro will deploy its vessels Fugro Synergy and the Normand Mermaid, to complete geotechnical investigations.
These operations will also include the use of Fugro’s SEACALF Mk V Deepdrive system for seabed cone penetration tests (CPTs), as well as the SEADEVIL for vessel-based and seafloor downhole testing.
"The use of this innovative equipment will ensure efficient operations and can reduce carbon emissions by up to 40 % when compared to traditional inspection methods. In addition to this, Fugro Synergy’s stable design ensures high weather operability and reduced downtime, whilst the focus on remote operations and the limited need for manual handling of equipment ensures improved operational safety," Fugro said.
Following the fieldwork, an extensive laboratory testing program will be delivered by Fugro’s in-house laboratory engineers, allowing all samples to be analyzed efficiently for foundation designs.
In February 2021, EnBW and BP were jointly selected as preferred bidders for the two leases in the UK Offshore Wind Round 4, the first such UK leasing round since 2010.
When revealing the wind farms' names in July 2021, Burkhard Roemhild, EnBW project director said: "We were inspired by the location of these two offshore wind developments and their connection to the region. Morgan means "sea chief" in Old Welsh, and Mona relates to Ynys Môn, the Welsh name for the Isle of Anglesey."