Fugro is expected to start a geotechnical survey at the site of DONG Energy’s proposed Bay State Wind offshore wind farm south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA, on Friday, 7 October.
RV Fugro Synergy is expected to complete the survey in around 15 days, weather permitting, a notice to fishermen issued by the Bay State Wind said.
In August and September, an exploratory geophysical survey mapped sea bed conditions within the BOEM Massachusetts Wind Energy Area (WEA), lease area OCS-A 0500.
Following up, in October a geotechnical survey will test bottom conditions in 18 specific locations identified in the previous survey. This information will assist engineering of future wind turbines.
Fugro Synergy will use dynamic positioning systems to maintain station precisely while testing is taking place. Each testing station may require the vessel to maintain position for 2 to 24 hours depending on conditions and testing activity. Operations will proceed 24 hours a day. This ground investigation will consist of a series of shallow Vibrocore Holes, Cone Penetration Tests (CPTs) and core samples.
Bay State Wind is a utility scale offshore wind farm, located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, with water depths of between 130 – 165 feet. The site area was awarded by the Department of Interior’s BOEM in 2015 and additional feasibility assessment and stakeholder engagement, at both a local and state level will now be undertaken.
If given approval, DONG plans to build an offshore wind farm which could have an installed capacity of up to 1,000MW.
For the next three years, DONG Energy will collect data and perform assessments of the physical, biological and economic characteristics of the lease area. The geotechnical survey is the second step of data collection.