Geoquip gears for Arklow Bank geotechnical survey

A geotechnical survey will be carried out in the Irish Sea to provide site investigation information to facilitate the development of the Arklow Bank Wind Park.

Weather depending, survey work should start in either late August or early September 2020 and wrap up by the end of November 2020.

The location of the surveys will be off the Wicklow, Ireland coastline.

The contractor behind the geotechnical survey package is Geoquip.

The company will mobilise its 80-metre long geotechnical drilling vessel vessel Geoquip Saentis.

The survey activities will include approximately 15 boreholes drilled at discrete locations within the hatched area.

In addition to this, deployment of four metocean devices should take place in late July or early August to collect data on waves and currents at the Arklow Bank site.

They will include a seabed frame with the mounted sensors, an anchoring system, as well as a surface marker buoy.

The devices will remain in place for approximately six months, serviced on a three-monthly basis.

Developer of the Arklow Bank Wind Park Phase 2 site is SSE Renewables.

SSE’s lease provides consent for up to 200 wind turbines with a minimum total installed capacity of 520MW.

SSE Renewables is targeting a delivery date of 2025.