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Geological Considerations for
Offshore Windfarm Development
A. Wheeler1, M. McGrath1, M. Coughlan1,3,
B. Dorschel1,2
1ERI & School of Biological Earth & Environmental Sciences 2Alfred Wegener, Institute, Bremenhaven, Germany
3Department of Marine Engineering Geology, MARUM, University of Bremen, Germany
Ireland’s offshore renewable energy potential
Wind
Mean wind speed at 50 m
Ireland’s offshore renewable energy potential
Wave
Annual average wave height
Ireland’s offshore renewable energy potential
Tidal Energy
Geological controls of renewable energy infrastructure
To build wind farms you need foundation solutions
To build tidal energy farms you need to understand energy regimes and sediment dynamics
Geological controls of renewable energy infrastructure
Understanding sediment dynamics in the Irish Sea – partnership with Gaelectric Developments Ltd
Understanding sediment dynamics in the Irish Sea – partnership with Gaelectric Developments Ltd
Understanding sediment dynamics in the Irish Sea – partnership with Gaelectric Developments Ltd
Recent projects and developments
CeSQuORE - Celtic Sea Sedimentary Processes, Quaternary Stratigraphy & Offshore Renewable Energy Development
ISSITEG - Appraisal of the Irish Sea Seabed Imaging for Tidal Energy Generation
MARUM partnership – North Sea windfarm developments
CeSQuORE
0 10 20 30 40KPa
0
40
80
120
160
200
Dep
th (
cm)
C ore_001
ISSITEG
ISSITEG
Defining signatures for benthic currents > 2m s-1
ISSITEG
ISSITEG
North Sea – MARUM partnership
Area 1
Area 2
Area 1
•East-west valley•Intersecting southern valley•Eastern meander system
Calcareous silty clay
Shell rich organic mud with clay and peat clay
Clays,silts and sands, some stiff
Clays,silts and sands, some stiff
Core 1 Core 2 Core 3
Site 1 Site 2 Site 3
What’s the big idea
To site wind farms we need to understand the sub-seabed constraints
Depth to bedrock and stratigraphies
Hydrodynamics and scour potential
Sub-seabed geotechnical properties
What’s the big idea
To determine sub-seabed properties
Drill and collect physical samples
Do in-situ measures e.g. CPT
What’s the big idea
What is driving the systems that produce these stratigraphies?
Process and palaeoenvironmental succession that determines the physical properties
Sediment physical properties –> geotechnics is easy
-> predict and interpolate geotechnics
We want to put the Geology back in Engineering Geology
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