RWE plans to construct a new offshore wind farm, called “Sofia Offshore Wind Farm”, in the Southern North Sea. The project will be located 195km off the East coast of the United Kingdom and will consist of approximately 100 wind turbine generators for a total capacity of 1.4GW.
GEOxyz was contracted by Van Oord to perform a pre-installation survey in the area to define water depths and detect objects on the seabed. To achieve this, we conducted a hydrographic and sonar survey along the power cable routes and the Wind Turbine Generator locations.
3D-UHR Seismic survey Additionally, we also performed a 3D ultra high resolution seismic survey at 14 WTG locations. The acquired data will be used to support and facilitate safe installation of the proposed WTG’s, through the assessment of potential hazards identified in the upper 50m below the seabed.
Environmental challenges Part of the Sofia fields falls within the Southern North Sea Special Area of Conservation (SAC) - summer area. Additionally, the area also lies within Dogger Bank SAC, where no interaction with benthic communities is allowed. The survey was conducted in close collaboration with the onboard MMO and PAM Operator to ensure all operations met the JNCC guidelines within these sensitive areas.
