Contracts for Ossian floating offshore wind farm surveys awarded to Fugro and Ocean Infinity
Wednesday 15 March 2023
The consortium behind Ossian floating offshore wind farm has awarded the contract for geotechnical investigations to two contractors: Fugro and Ocean Infinity.
The Ossian project is being delivered by a partnership of Scottish renewable energy developer SSE Renewables, Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation and Danish fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).
Set to be located across 858sq km of seabed in waters off the east coast of Scotland, the project could power up to six million homes and offset up to 7.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
Fugro will focus on downhole geotechnical sampling and in situ cone penetration testing, while Ocean Infinity will focus on the seabed scope which will include shallow vibro-cores and deep push seabed cone penetration tests.
"This is a major step forward in the exploratory work needed to make the Ossian Wind Farm a reality.
After a competitive tendering process, it was clear that Fugro and Ocean Infinity have the skills, equipment, knowledge and expertise to embark on a survey of this scale.
The Ossian team look forward to working with both companies and to realising the geotechnical investigation results which will be integral to the progression of what would be a world-leading floating wind project."
John Davidson
SSE renewables, offshore geotechnical technical authority
Fugro plans to use its purpose-built geotechnical drilling vessel, the Fugro Scout. The ship is equipped with ultra-deepwater drilling technology and state-of-the-art onboard systems which enable the vessel to safely carry out complex marine geotechnical operations.
Meanwhile, Ocean Infinity plans to use its vessel, Stril Explorer which is a multi-purpose support vessel with state-of-the-art seabed geotechnical equipment onboard.
"We are excited to support project partners, SSE Renewables, Marubeni Corporation and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners with the development of the Ossian wind farm. Our global expertise, resources and technical capabilities will be used to provide superior Geo-data on the soil conditions below the seafloor to help inform future designs and add value to the project."
Marscha DE Bruijn project manager for Fugro
"We are thrilled to have been chosen by the project partners to support the Ossian wind farm development. We are committed to contributing to a more sustainable future and as such are very proud that our geotechnical services will play a significant role in the work needed to make this new floating wind farm a reality."
Nils Ingvarson chief commercial officer for Ocean Infinity
Both surveys will commence this Spring. Ocean Infinity expects to have completed its survey work by the end of May while Fugro expects its downhole scope survey to be completed at the start of July. The surveys will significantly improve the seabed understanding across the project site by ground-truthing the already acquired geophysical information. This will subsequently enable design development activities to progress such as anchor in-place and installation design.