Ignitis Renewables, together with its partner Fugro, presented seabed exploratory survey data to the Lithuania’s scientific community at a conference organised by Klaipėda University. The data was collected as part of the company’s preparations to build an offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea, off the coast of Lithuania.
For this project, detailed seabed surveys were carried out to assess the conditions of the Baltic seabed, to decide where to locate the wind turbines, and to make decisions on their construction and design.
The geophysical survey vessel Fugro Frontier has covered around 2,000 kilometres in the Baltic Sea collecting high-quality data. The survey vessel carried out an in-depth analysis of a 120 square-kilometre area in the Baltic Sea for an offshore wind farm, collecting 2D ultra-ultra high-resolution (UHRS) sub-surface data, as well as bathymetry, sidescan sonar, and magnetometer data.
“The area of the Baltic seabed for the development of the first offshore wind farm in the Baltic States has never been studied in such detail before. Our aim is to ensure that the very detailed data collected will not only be used for the development of the offshore wind project, but also presented to the Lithuanian scientific community and seabed researchers. This is another benefit of the project,” says Communications Partner at Ignitis Renewables Paulius Kalmantas.
He points out that a unique energy project and the seabed data collected for its design as well as more information about a previously undiscovered shipwreck at the bottom of the sea were presented to the conference attendees. “This unexpected discovery of a shipwreck has attracted the attention of researchers and the wider public. The information is being further analysed, but we are already sharing this discovery and the related details with Lithuanian researchers and historians,” says P. Kalmantas.
The 700 megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm being built by Ignitis Renewables in the Baltic Sea could generate around 3 terawatt-hours (TWh) of green electricity annually, which would meet a quarter of Lithuania’s current electricity demand. The project will significantly increase the production of domestic electricity from renewable energy sources, eliminating dependence on electricity imports, promoting the region’s transformation into a sustainable green energy hub, and contributing to plans to turn the Baltic States into energy exporters to Central Europe.
The conference Sea and Coastal Research, organised by the Marine Research Institute of Klaipėda University, is aimed at Lithuanian researchers, representatives of business and industry as well as the public sector who wish to share research results, good examples of cooperation between science and business, and other relevant issues.
Source: Ignitis
