Fugro and Magseis Fairfield set up renewables and carbon capture collab

October 25, 2022, by Nadja Skopljak

Norway’s Magseis Fairfield and the Dutch Fugro have signed a global cooperation agreement to work on project opportunities including wide area 3D ultra high-resolution surveys (3D UHR) for the offshore renewables and carbon capture and storage (CCS) markets.

The companies said they will jointly pursue projects that benefit from the combination of Magseis Fairfield’s Extended High Resolution (XHR) seismic system and Fugro’s geo-data expertise.

According to Frank Koopman, Fugro’s global director for offshore wind, combining high resolution 3D UHR data with other types of geo-data into a 3D ground model will enable clients to make better decisions faster and help support the offshore wind market.

“Magseis Fairfield’s mission is to bring value to our global energy partners and stakeholders by delivering leading-edge, safe, sustainable solutions, through technology differentiation and key alliances,” said Tone Holm-Trudeng, Magseis Fairfield’s director of Renewables.

“We are very pleased to have signed the co-operation agreement with Fugro, and look forward to collaborate with a strong industry partner to broaden our offering and support our customers through the energy transition.”

A study performed by Fugro showed that offshore wind farms and CCS projects in the Dutch sector of the North Sea can coexist.

To ensure safe co-location, the company provided the Dutch government with several key recommendations, including developing a (3D) characterisation model for geological sites that can be used to determine the probability of an earthquake occurring directly below a wind farm.

The Netherlands has two CCS projects planned for its North Sea waters: Porthos and Aramis.

On the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) so far four CO2 storage permits have been granted. Permit EL 001 was awarded to Northern Lights in 2019 and, this April, two more permits were allocated, one in the North Sea and one in the Barents Sea.

Earlier this month, Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy selected Wintershall Dea Norge and CapeOmega to receive an exploration permit for CO2 storage on the NCS.

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