Gardline, under contract to Alpine Ocean Seismic Survey, is conducting geophysical survey operations at the proposed Empire Wind site, Equinor’s first significant offshore wind investment in the US.
The Empire Wind site is located approximately 31 kilometer south of Long Island, New York, covering 321 square kilometers.
The lease comprises an area that could potentially accommodate more than 1 GW of offshore wind, with a phased development expected to start with 400-800 MW, with potential operations starting in the mid-2020s.
Alpine’s survey vessel RV Shearwater completed the first of three proposed export cable routes earlier this year.
Gardline’s vessel RV Ocean Researcher started operations on the Main Lease Area earlier this month and work is expected to continue until August. Operations comprise of high-resolution geophysical surveys, shallow geotechnical investigation and benthic sampling.
Survey results will be used to produce a construction and operations plan to inform seabed characteristics and archaeological resource for the purpose of wind farm design and permitting assessments.