The Elwind offshore wind project, a joint initiative by the Estonian and Latvian governments, has launched a tender for geophysical survey services aimed at informing the design and construction of a planned 1-gigawatt wind farm in the Baltic Sea.
The tender, open until June 27, seeks a contractor to carry out a detailed geophysical survey to map the seabed and sub-seabed conditions across the proposed project area. The survey will support the development of a preliminary ground model to guide future geotechnical investigations.
According to project documentation, the survey will focus on identifying a range of seabed features, including natural formations such as boulders, as well as man-made objects such as shipwrecks, debris, cables, pipelines, and unexploded ordnances.
Seismic data will also be collected to detect shallow geohazards that could affect turbine placement and to describe the stratigraphy of the site. The data will feed into a preliminary ground model, which will be used to inform the work of a separately contracted geotechnical survey team.
“The objective of the survey is to enhance the understanding of the geological characteristics of the offshore wind farm areas by collecting and analysing geophysical data and developing a ground model to determine the design and installation requirements for the project,” the project team said in the tender documents.
The integrated results from the geophysical and subsequent geotechnical surveys will form the basis for the design of offshore foundations, structural supports, and cable burial routes, with the goal of ensuring the safe and efficient installation of the wind farm.
The geophysical works are scheduled to be completed within 2025.
