More work for Fugro at Denmark’s largest offshore wind project

Dutch geo-data specialist company Fugro has been appointed by RWE to complete a geophysical survey off the Danish coast, where RWE will build the 1 GW Thor offshore wind farm.

Up to three survey vessels will be deployed to carry out a detailed pre-construction survey including a search for unexploded ordnance (UXO) up to approximately 34 kilometers off the coast of Thorsminde.

The data acquired will define the cable routes and exact turbine locations for RWE’s Thor offshore wind farm.

“We are looking forward to using the data collected by Fugro to finalise the layout of the wind farm and to determine the routes for the inter-array and export cables. This is an important step towards the start of the construction works at sea in 2025,” said Günther Fenle, Project Director of Thor Offshore Wind Farm, RWE Offshore Wind.

The UXO campaign for RWE’s Thor offshore wind farm is planned to run until December 2023.

“We are using a wide range of survey techniques, comprising offshore and nearshore standard geophysical and UXO survey techniques, a seismic land refraction survey, and last but not least, Fugro’s rapid airborne multibeam mapping system (RAMMS) for comprehensive mapping of the shallow area and beach in the transition zone,” said Marc Kebbel, Fugro’s Service Line Director of Hydrography and Cable Route Surveys.

“The metocean challenges posed by Thor’s exposed offshore location, such as high waves and strong wind in autumn and winter are adding to the complexity.”

The awarded contract builds upon Fugro’s prior involvement in the project, which included a comprehensive geotechnical site investigation conducted in 2022.

RWE, through the project company Thor Wind Farm I/S, was announced as the winner of the Danish tender for the Thor offshore wind farm at the beginning of December 2021.

Once it is fully commissioned in 2027, the 1 GW project will become Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm and will be capable of producing enough green electricity to supply the equivalent of more than one million Danish households.