Energinet has awarded Fugro a new contract to provide floating wind lidar measurements for five offshore wind projects in Denmark. Fugro will install and operate ten SEAWATCH® Wind Lidar Buoys across three main locations, namely the Kattegat Sea, Baltic Sea, and North Sea.

Energinet has awarded Fugro a new contract to provide floating wind lidar measurements for five offshore wind projects in Denmark. Fugro will install and operate ten SEAWATCH® Wind Lidar Buoys across three main locations, namely the Kattegat Sea, Baltic Sea, and North Sea. These buoys will provide real-time metocean and environmental monitoring data to support investment decisions for offshore wind farms. This will help the Danish government achieve its goal of deploying 12.9 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

Starting in summer 2023, Fugro's SEAWATCH® Wind Lidar Buoys will be deployed to record continuous measurements of wind, waves, and currents for a minimum of one year. This critical data will be used to support the development and design process of offshore wind projects, including energy yield calculations, site assessments, and the selection and design of foundations, grid connections, and cable corridors.

The SEAWATCH® Wind Lidar Buoy has a globally proven track record and is capable of recording wind measurements up to 250 metres above sea level, as well as wave measurements and current profiles down to the seabed.

Guillaume Mougin, Energinet's Project Manager for Wind and Metocean Denmark said: "This collaboration is important because it allows the deployment of ten floating wind lidar buoys in various project areas in a timely manner. It is part of Energinet's ambition to ensure a high-quality dataset, which will be used as input to support the project development and design process, including wind, metocean, and ice site assessments, selection, and design of foundations, etc. We are excited to achieve results together with Fugro, following cooperation on the proposed Energy Island projects."

Jørn Erik Norangshol, Fugro's Service Line Director for Monitoring and Forecasting Norway said: "The Danish government's ambition to develop offshore wind power by 2030 is both ambitious and critical for achieving net-zero targets. For Energinet, it is essential to gain an understanding of the natural forces that impact offshore wind farm development. With our SEAWATCH® Wind Lidar Buoys, we will provide highly accurate wind and metocean data, supporting the planning and development of future offshore wind farms."

This contract builds upon Fugro's 2021 engagements with Energinet for Denmark's proposed Energy Island project, including two geotechnical site investigation contracts, a geophysical and unexploded ordnance (UXO) magnetometry survey, and a floating wind lidar measurement campaign.