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Fugro is scheduled to start geophysical surveys later this month at a site in the Outer Moray Firth, Scotland, where Ocean Winds plans to build its 2 GW Caledonia offshore wind farm.
The work, to be carried out within the wind turbine array site, will be conducted by the vessels Fugro Pioneer and Kommandor Iona. Fugro Pioneer is expected to arrive on site on February 14, and Kommandor Iona will follow on February 24, from when simultaneous operations will be carried out with both vessels.
The geophysical survey activities are expected to be completed by approximately March 9, according to a Notice to Mariners issued by the project team.
The Caledonia project is adjacent to Ocean Wind’s operational Moray East and Moray West wind farms. The project site spans some 429 square kilometers, with its northern limit around 22 kilometers from Wick and the southern limit 38 kilometers from Banff.
The Caledonia offshore wind farm is divided into two sites, Caledonia North and Caledonia South, each with a planned installed capacity of 900 MW to 1,100 MW.
Ocean Winds, a 50-50 joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE, won the development rights in the ScotWind auction in 2022 and the following year announced plans to build out the Caledonia offshore wind farm to an installed generation capacity of 2 GW.
The developer submitted applications for onshore and offshore planning consent in November 2024.
According to the timeline on the Caledonia project’s website, onshore construction is planned to start next year, with offshore work anticipated to begin in 2028 and the 2 GW offshore wind farm completed in 2030.