Fugro’s DP2 geotechnical drill ship Fugro Scout has commenced a site characterisation campaign at Vattenfall’s Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas offshore wind sites.
The data from the four-month geotechnical investigations will be used for ground modelling for the two offshore wind farms, located more than 40 kilometres off the coast of Norfolk, UK.
The work is divided into two projects, with the first operations being carried out to inform the foundation engineering design and the second to assist in selecting the most efficient export cable route.
Fugro will undertake both in-situ testing and that at the company’s soils laboratories in Wallingford, UK, and Nootdorp in the Netherlands.
The UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) awarded development consent (DCO) for Vattenfall’s application to build the 1.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farm at the beginning of July – after the deadline for the decision was postponed twice.
The DCO examination period for the 1.8 GW Norfolk Boreas, which has also suffered delays in the consenting procedure, has been pushed to 12 October.
Each project is planned to feature up to 180 wind turbines with a minimum individual capacity of 10 MW.