Fugro Returns To Hollandse Kust Wind Farm Zone

Fugro is set to commence a site characterisation programme at the Hollandse Kust (noord) Wind Farm zone. Carried out under a further contract for the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl, part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy), the geotechnical workscope comprises seabed investigations and borehole drilling at two lots. Other deliverables include standard and advanced laboratory testing and an integrated geological/geotechnical soil model which will be used by future developers of the wind farm to prepare their bids.

The fieldwork takes place between April and June from Fugro vessels including state-of-the-art geotechnical drilling vessel, Fugro Synergy. Deployment of two of Fugro’s most recent technical innovations will enhance safety and bring improved operational efficiency to the project. The team of geophysical, geological and geotechnical experts will complement the company’s innovative technology to optimise an integrated deliverable.

“Our geotechnical innovations will ensure that we deliver data of the highest quality to RVO.nl and obtain it in a safe manner,” said Sven Plasman, Fugro’s Project Director at Fugro. “From Fugro Synergy we’ll operate the Fugro SEADEVIL®, an offshore geotechnical tool that optimises vertical control during drilling and enables our team to acquire high quality samples. The seabed cone penetration testing (CPT) will be carried out using our SEACALF MkIV system; its coiled rod requires no manual handling, ensuring safer operations, while the continuous drive system yields high quality data. Both of these innovative systems are fundamental to reducing operational costs and are integral elements of Fugro’s specialised support for the offshore wind industry.”

Frank van Erp, Project Manager at RVO.nl described how the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, executing the offshore wind energy permit tender, is expected to set a new benchmark in providing high quality site surveys and investigations. “Our aim is to use the latest techniques to ensure the package of site studies we deliver for developers preparing bids is the best it can be, so they can fully optimise wind farm designs. We are confident Fugro's state-of-the-art techniques will play a key role in this,” he commented.

With a total capacity of 700 MW, the Hollandse Kust (noord) Wind Farm Zone is located ten nautical miles off the west coast of the Netherlands. In the third quarter of 2017 an earlier contract with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency saw Fugro complete a geophysical survey of the area to map the position of existing cables and pipelines, as well as the possible presence of other obstacles.