Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) has issued early information about tender calls for geotechnical investigations and monitoring services for offshore wind farm areas in the North and Baltic Seas.
According to BSH’s prior notices from the end of December 2018, the tender calls for the provision of the works should be launched this month (January 2019).
The geotechnical exploration works in the North and Baltic Seas include drilling, core sampling and investigation, pressure probing, borehole geophysics, laboratory investigations, as well as documentation in the context of a preliminary investigation in accordance with the German Offshore Wind Energy Act (WindSeeG).
Drilling and pressure probing will be carried out at up to 80 meters from the seabed surface, in water depths of up to 50 meters. Based on the results of the drill core approach, the laboratory programme, which includes the classification, soil and rock mechanical tests, must be specified by the contractor.
The geotechnical monitoring services, to be tendered in a separate call, cover the monitoring of the survey works and acceptance of the surveys and the documentation for the preliminary investigation in accordance with existing rules and standards.
In the North Sea, the survey will be conducted in two areas: one located between Gode Wind 1 and Gode Wind 2 on its west and Gode Wind 3 and Gode Wind 4. The distances to the nearest islands Norderney, Juist, Baltrum and Langeoog south of the area are about 30-40 km.
In the Baltic Sea, the survey will be carried out in an area 38 km northeast of the island of Rügen, adjacent to Wikinger and Arkona offshore wind farms.
The contracts for geotechnical surveys are set to take place from 15 April to 15 November 2019, while those for monitoring services will be effective 15 days longer.