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SEABED SURVEYING THE


IMPORTANCE OF SEABED SURVEYING


Seabed surveying for offshore wind and wave & tidal energy is a broad subject but in encompasses a wide range of very specialised skills and experience depending on the location, local conditions and client requirements. The scope of work for a project can be extensive, but generally includes geophysical (bathymetry, shallow seismic), geotechnical borehole investigations, UXO and clearance surveys as well as metocean data such as currents and wave climate information. In tidal areas, collection of this data can add an extra level of complexity.


The importance of seabed surveying early on in the project lifecycle cannot be underestimated. If the project is to succeed and maximise on its investment, then the site characteristics must be determined well in advance of construction to ensure the location is suitable to the technology type and that marine operations can be well planned to reduce the amount of sea time and avoid any potential issues.


Typically, sites are selected through two main scenarios:


• the technology developer selects a site based on their technology, with a view to finding the right site to match its capabilities


• the site is pre-selected at a demonstration area e.g. EMEC or WaveHub, where the developers need to plan how their technology can make bet use of that location.


In either case, seabed surveying provides the initial information required in order to plan the project and maximise on the conditions and technology available.


HOW SEABED SURVEY ASSISTS IN PROJECT PLANNING AND SITE SELECTION


With the right experience and equipment, hydrographic surveyors will also provide construction support to ensure accurate surface and subsea positioning during installation, of the turbines themselves and of the associated assets such as cables and connectors.


Once a project enters the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) phase, the role of seabed surveys can provide further essential data for monitoring temporal changes in features such as seabed morphology e.g. for scour monitoring to assess impacts on power cable integrity.


If done regularly, and planned in advance, this can be an essential tool in the O&M strategy of the operators.


At the Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm, Insight Marine Projects Ltd recently provided essential information to their client RWE Innogy/Manor Renewable Energy Ltd which included baseline bathymetric datasets within the wind park as well as additional cable route and UXO surveys. So from pre-construction and O&M through to project decommissioning we have been instrumental in providing the data required by our clients to enable them to best plan the next steps in their project.


Insight Marine Projects Ltd Click to view more info


www.windenergynetwork.co.uk


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