
Rovco Successfully Completes Survey for Cenos Offshore Wind Farm
Posted 23/11/2023 14:59
Rovco has announced the successful completion of all survey work for the planned Cenos floating offshore wind farm in the Central North Sea, situated 200 kilometers off the coast of northeast Scotland. The geo-environmental survey covered an extensive area of approximately 333 km² and was conducted on behalf of Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn.
Craig Davis, Director of Marine Site Characterization for Rovco, emphasized the efficiency and safety of the project, stating, “The work was safely and successfully completed by our newly established site characterization division, using our multi-purpose, custom-reconfigured DP2 survey vessel, the Glomar Supporter."
Rovco's comprehensive work scope included the acquisition of geophysical and benthic information, crucial for informing environmental impact assessment (EIA) consents and engineering processes during the early front-end engineering and design (FEED) study. The geophysical aspect involved utilizing advanced technologies such as multi-beam echo sounder, side scan sonar, magnetometer, sub-bottom profiler, and multi-channel seismic data.
The Cenos wind farm, with a capacity of up to 1.4 GW, is poised to deliver electricity to both oil and gas platforms and the UK grid. The project aligns with sustainability goals, aiming to significantly reduce carbon emissions from the supplied assets and contribute to Scotland's 2045 net-zero targets by saving over 2 million metric tons of CO2 annually.
Scott McLaughlan, Cenos Project Manager, emphasized the collaborative effort with supply chain partners and commended Rovco's swift execution of the survey, stating, "Rovco’s approach to managing and executing the fast-track survey brief for Cenos, effectively and within the challenging timeframes has provided us with the continuity and depth of data we require to advance both our consent and our engineering plans."
Rovco's marine site characterization business unit, launched earlier this year, addresses industry needs during the initial phases of offshore wind farm development. The heart of this initiative is the multi-purpose DP2 survey vessel, Glomar Supporter, which underwent extensive refurbishment in 2021 and is now equipped to carry state-of-the-art survey sensors and equipment. This strategic move by Rovco aims to fill a critical industry gap by providing high-quality data capture, reporting, and technology-enabled solutions for efficient site characterization during the earliest stages of offshore wind projects.