Modus completes depth burial survey at Gwynt-y-Môr wind farm

Modus Seabed Intrusion has completed a high-speed bathymetric and burial depth survey of the inter-array cable routes on the Gwynt-y-Môr wind farm operated by innogy using the HAUV-2 (Hybrid Autonomous Underwater Vehicle).

The Gwynt-y-Môr offshore wind farm contains 160 Siemens 3.6 MW WTGs situated approximately 8 miles from the Liverpool Bay coast of North Wales in water depths ranging from 12 to 28 meters. The WTG’s are linked via 161 inter-array cables with a total length of about 147 kilometres.

Modus mobilized its HAUV-2 system, equipped with optimal ranging Orion cable tracking system and dual head R2Sonic 2024 multibeam echosounder, on the chartered ‘Noordhoek Pathfinder’ DP2 vessel to execute the O&M depth of burial survey scope.

The work was crucial to the wind farm’s maintenance and service. Offshore wind farm Gwynt y Môr generates enough renewable electricity to meet the equivalent needs of around 400.000 average UK homes.

“At innogy we are always striving to enhance our operations at the Gwynt-y-Môr offshore wind farm. Being in the long-term O&M phase of the project, cost saving is a significant driver and we have a continued effort to deliver operational performance. Part of this is the ongoing inspection and maintenance of our assets through periodic surveys in order to ensure a continued reliable supply of Renewable Power to the UK. The HAUV’s performance capability was proven and the system delivered high speed data acquisition without compromising quality.”

Graham Thorpe, asset integrity engineer for Innogy Renewables UK.

“The HAUV’s capability has now been proven across the energy sector since 2018. The ability to perform high speed depth of burial in high current areas has been an ongoing requirement of the offshore wind industry. With HAUV, we were able to significantly reduce overall survey time at this important offshore wind farm for the UK energy industry. As well as cost savings, use of this vehicle significantly decreases the carbon footprint of a survey of this nature. 

“Going forward, the flexibility of payload enables this vehicle to combine various types of survey and inspection to improve efficiency and further reduce vessel days offshore, setting new standards for subsea operations. The next phase of development is to remove the need for a dedicated support vessel and to use the autonomous features of the HAUV to perform scopes from vessels or structures already in field, such as SOV’s.”

Nigel Ward, CCO for Modus.