Caledonia offshore wind farm begins geotechnical surveys
Sediment from deep borehole samples from across the Moray Firth site will provide crucial geotechnical data to allow further planning of the project’s engineering design and installation phases.
Following the success of the recent geophysical survey campaign, the geotechnical survey will see the use of Gardline’s Horizon Geobay vessel. This will support soil analysis across the 429 km2 site - specifically core penetration tests and borehole sampling.
Sarah Graham, Caledonia Offshore Wind Farm Head of Engineering said: “Ocean Winds has built a robust data catalogue of the Moray Firth throughout its decade-long presence in the area. Our goal now is to build a clear picture of the ground conditions across the Caledonia site area to inform the engineering design of the project. Collecting this data is an essential part in determining the wind turbine foundations, ensuring we select structures suitable for the site."
The offshore campaign will run until the end of 2023 (weather dependent).
Caledonia is a 2GW project developed by Ocean Winds in the Moray Firth, and one of the few ScotWind sites scheduled to be operational by 2030. It is adjacent to Ocean Wind's operational Moray East development and its under-construction Moray West project, which is due to be up and running early in 2025.
About Caledonia Offshore Windfarm
Operational in 2030, the 2GW Caledonia development will mark two decades of continuous investment by Ocean Winds in the Moray Firth, providing opportunities for local growth.
With expected capacity of 2GW, Caledonia is expected to double the capacity of the Moray Firth and will be capable of supplying around two million homes with green, low-cost electricity.
The site was awarded to Ocean Winds under the Scottish Government’s ScotWind process and will join Moray East and Moray West as the company’s third offshore wind farm in the UK.
Additional information:
· Site area: 429km2
· Water depths: 40 – 100m
· Expected capacity: 2GW
· Expected to commence generation: 2030
More information: www.caledoniaoffshorewind.com
About Ocean Winds
Ocean Winds (OW) is an international company dedicated to offshore wind energy and created as a 50-50 joint venture, owned by EDP Renewables and ENGIE. Based on our belief that offshore wind energy is an essential part of the global energy transition, we develop, finance, build and operate offshore wind farm projects all around the world.
When EDP and ENGIE combined their offshore wind assets and project pipeline to create OW in 2019, the company had a total of 1.5 GW under construction and 4.0 GW under development; OW has been adding rapidly to that portfolio and is now on a trajectory to reach the 2025 target of 5 to 7 GW of projects in operation, or construction, and 5 to 10 GW under advanced development. In 2022, OW’s offshore wind gross capacity already operating, in construction or with advanced development rights granted has reached 16.6 GW.
In the United Kingdom, OW is the majority shareholder of Moray East, Scotland’s largest operational offshore wind farm with an installed capacity of 950 MW. The project's operational base is Fraserburgh. OW is also developing the adjacent Moray West project, 882 MW, with first power planned for 2024. The project's operational harbour will be Buckie.
During the ScotWind process, OW has recently been awarded exclusive rights by Crown Estate Scotland to develop three projects:
· An offshore wind project targeting a capacity of 2 GW, named Caledonia, adjacent to the existing Moray East and Moray West seabed lease area. The nature of Caledonia as an extension to the other Moray Firth projects offers opportunities for rapid deployment, to deliver both economic recovery and low-cost, low-carbon power;
· One floating offshore wind project of 1.8 GW capacity in partnership with Mainstream Renewable Power
· Another floating offshore project of 500 MW, both east of the Shetland Islands.
More information: www.oceanwinds.com
