Seabed surveys completed for ORLEN’s next offshore wind farm
Published by Jessica Casey,
Editor
Energy Global,
For nearly four months, preliminary seismic and geotechnical seabed surveys have been carried out across the Baltic East offshore wind project area by three specialist units from a consortium of Polish companies: ORLEN Petrobaltic, Geofizyka Torun, and MEWO. During the campaign, a team of qualified researchers, technicians, and operators completed over 1000 km of seismic lines, along with numerous soundings and boreholes. The data collected will enable ORLEN Neptun to develop the next key stages of the project.
“Seabed investigations are one of the key stages in developing our offshore wind farm project. The work in the Baltic was carried out by a consortium of three Polish companies, which shows the growing readiness of Polish supply chain to provide high-quality services to the offshore wind energy sector. It is important to us that Polish companies are as involved as possible in our projects. The offshore surveys were conducted to the highest standards and best practices, keeping environmental impact to a minimum. The results will allow us to move efficiently into the next stages of project delivery,” said Janusz Bil, President of the Management Board of ORLEN Neptun.
Seabed surveys for the Baltic East project began in late June and lasted more than 15 weeks. During this period, three specialist vessels put to sea, operating across the entire planned wind-farm area. The data acquisition they carried out – together with subsequent processing – will enable an accurate modelling of the seabed geology at the project site, the preparation of the documentation required for design work, and an action plan for future geological campaigns.
Multichannel 2D seismic surveys were conducted by Geofizyka Torun. In the next stages, analysis of the acquired data will focus on the preliminary identification of soil strata and the interpretation of potential geohazards, such as boulder fields and shallow gas.
UXO surveys – searches for potential unexploded ordnance – were carried out by MEWO. They enabled an assessment of seabed clearance with respect to hazardous objects at the locations of the geotechnical investigations. Dozens of magnetic anomalies were identified. Conducting UXO surveys prior to the offshore geotechnical campaign is a key and mandatory step that ensures the safety of personnel, equipment, and infrastructure.
The final stage of field investigations was carried out by ORLEN Petrobaltic using the vessel Sylur. In total, more than 1200 m of geotechnical boreholes and soundings were completed, to depths of up to 80 , below the seabed. Laboratory work on the recovered soil samples is now under way, alongside interpretation of the seismic survey results.
The Baltic East project already holds preliminary grid connection conditions for the transmission system, a permit to construct or use artificial islands, structures and devices, and permits to lay and maintain cables within internal sea waters and the territorial sea.
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