Fugro congratulates the London Array project team on completion of the first 630 MW phase of the Thames estuary development. The project, jointly owned by DONG Energy, Masdar and E.ON, has set a new world record for the largest offshore wind farm, according to the World Record Academy.
‘Fugro has played various roles throughout the project so far, so it is something of a world record for us too,’ explains Tony Hodgson, Global Business Development Manager for Fugro Renewable Services. ‘We have been involved at all stages, from early feasibility studies through design, consent and development and we continue to play an active role now during operations.
‘Our first task, in 2004, was to install the 70 m high met mast using the jack-up Excalibur. From summer 2007 until spring 2008, we undertook the largest geophysical and geotechnical site survey ever performed for a UK wind farm, at the time, for both the turbine foundations and elements of the cable route using Excalibur and the vessel Fugro Commander. We also carried out some preliminary UXO clearance surveys for the jack-up and vessel locations.
‘Our environmental team performed pre-construction environmental surveys and our geophysical specialists performed detailed studies across the site and cable routes in addition to further UXO surveys.
‘Since then we have provided positioning support to some of the contractors and are currently providing maintenance services for buoys which measure metocean conditions. The metocean data that is collected allows Fugro to ensure safe and effective working conditions and to predict the best times for carrying out certain operations. This project is a great case study for us as it truly demonstrates the collective breadth of services that we are able to provide to offshore wind farm developers and contractors’
[mappress]
Press release, April 25, 2013; Image: fugro