SMart Wind appoints EMU to begin Environmental Surveys for Hornsea Zone
Thursday, July 22, 2010
SMart Wind on track to deliver first project into construction by 2014
The SMart Wind consortium, led my Mainstream Renewable Power and Siemens Project Ventures, has appointed marine consent expert Emu Ltd to complete a full spectrum of environmental surveys across the zone as well as more detailed surveys for the first wind farms in the 4GW Hornsea Zone.
The surveys began in early spring and mark the first significant step towards bringing the first 500MW project to construction by 2014. The surveys include bird and mammal observations, geophysics, marine ecology and deployment of metocean measuring devices to record wind and waves. The work will take place over a two year period and once the surveys are completed Smart Wind will produce an environmental statement for the first two 500MW offshore wind farms. The consortium also plans to carry out Geotechnical Investigations this summer.
SMart Wind’s General Manager, Chris Hill commented, “We are delighted to be working with a recognised leader in the field of environmental surveys. Emu has extensive experience from Rounds 1 and 2 and we will undoubtedly benefit from that learning. Together we have focused on maximising the summer weather by starting the surveys as soon as possible and keeping us on track to being the first to deliver a Round 3 project into construction. We are also pleased to be working with a UK company for this, underpinning our objective of sourcing as much national and local content as possible.
Emu Ltd's Operations Director, Huw Powell said "After 2 years of working towards Round 3 with SMart Wind we are pleased to be in the water and to see the early results come flooding in. SMart Wind is an extremely proactive and progressive consortium and we are delighted to be associated with them."
< Back to news