Sulmara secures geo work at 1 GW Scottish floating offshore wind project

Stromar, a joint venture between Ørsted, BlueFloat Energy, and Renantis, has awarded Sulmara with a contract to conduct site characterization work at the namesake 1 GW floating offshore wind farm in Scotland.

For this work, Sulmara will utilize the 60-meter multi-purpose subsea vessel Vos Gorgeous to carry out a geophysical investigation across the proposed wind farm site in water depths of up to 100 meters.

“Mobilising the Vos Gorgeous to carry out high-specification site characterisation is a big part of our plans for 2024, and bringing another modern, fuel-efficient vessel online to meet market demand shows how committed we are to supporting our clients’ net-zero ambitions,” said Michael King, Head of Sales at Sulmara.

Due to commence in April, the project will see data acquisition carried out to support Stromar’s engineering design work as well as its ongoing environmental assessment of the site, which is approximately 50 kilometers off Caithness in northern Scotland.

“Partnering with the Sulmara team aligns with our commitment to decarbonisation and, importantly, working with Scottish partners to bolster the local supply chain. Stromar represents a major project that could enhance Scotland’s leadership in the global floating wind sector, while also contributing to the ambitious net zero targets set by both the Scottish and UK governments,” said Nicholas Ritchie, Stromar’s Project Director.

In September 2023, the developers deployed an EOLOS LiDAR buoy at the site to capture data on subjects such as wind speed and direction, ocean currents, tide, atmospheric pressure, and air temperature.

At the beginning of this year, the joint venture submitted the environmental impact assessment (EIA) scoping and habitats regulations appraisal (HRA) screening reports to the Marine Directorate and Aberdeenshire Council for the 1 GW floating offshore wind farm.

The floating offshore wind project covers an area of 256 square kilometers and is located in the Moray Firth off the coast of Scotland.