New set of seabed surveys to start at Sofia offshore wind site

Four survey vessels are ready to commence site investigations at the Sofia offshore wind project site off the UK’s North East coast.

The surveys are part of a six-month site investigation campaign for innogy’s 1.4 GW project that started in February.

The multi-purpose vessel Despina and survey vessel Fugro Scout will carry out geotechnical surveys on the wind farm site, following on from those undertaken earlier this year.

The information gathered will be used to fine-tune the array design as well as determine the installation of the turbine foundations, array cables and the offshore converter platform, innogy states.

The coastal survey vessels Fugro Seeker and Fugro Mercator will undertake geophysical surveys along the nearshore export cable corridor off the coast of Redcar, Teesside.

These surveys will inform both the design of the export cable and the installation methodology by building on the results of the export cable route surveys completed in March by Fugro Pioneer and Despina.

The latest set of surveys is expected to be completed by July, when further final site investigation work is due to start.

In July, a jack-up barge will carry out nearshore borehole surveys along the export cable route at the landfall between Redcar and Marske-by-the-Sea.

Onshore construction for the Sofia offshore wind project is due to start in early 2021, offshore construction is scheduled to begin 2023, and the project is expected to be fully operational in 2026.

The Sofia offshore wind farm will comprise up to 200 turbines, installed some 16 kilometres off the North East coast on Dogger Bank.