Polish companies conduct geological survey for PGE offshore wind project
A geological investigation of the area is an essential part of the investment process related to the construction of offshore wind farms. Geotechnical and geophysical surveys are underway to thoroughly investigate the soil for the future project. The survey will allow for the preparation of documentation that is needed to develop a soil model necessary for the proper design of the land-to-sea cable passage for the Baltica 1 Offshore Wind Farm.
The scope of works includes a geological survey, including geotechnical and geophysical surveys. As regards onshore surveys, the contract includes: CPTU probing, a piezometric survey, a magnetometric survey, seismic refraction tomography, electrical resistivity tomography and a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey. And as far as planned offshore surveys are concerned, they will encompass CPTU probing, seismic reflection, a bathymetric survey and a subbottom profiler survey (SBP). In addition, laboratory tests of soil and water samples taken during drilling are planned. The testing will start in the second quarter of this year.
The Baltica 1 OWF project, with a capacity of approx. 0.9 GW, is one of three projects currently implemented by the PGE Group in the Baltic Sea, located approx. 80 km from the shoreline, roughly at the level of the town of Łeba in the Pomorskie Voivodship. The project already has, among others, a location permit and grid connection agreement, and the first full year of surveys of wind conditions, sea currents and waves is already behind it. This year, PGE Baltica has commenced a subsoil survey for the onshore part of the project and signed an agreement for a preliminary geotechnical survey of the seabed. The Baltica 1 OWF project will be commissioned after 2030.
Two further projects, Baltica 2 and Baltica 3, which will together form the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm with a total capacity of 2.5 GW, are being implemented by PGE Group in collaboration with Ørsted. The completion of the construction of the Baltica 2 stage with a capacity of approx. 1.5 GW is scheduled by the end of 2027, and of the Baltica 3 stage, with a capacity of approx. 1 GW, by the end of 2030.
Photo by: Geofizyka Toruń