Site Assessment: a bedrock for a successful US offshore wind bid

Client challenge

Our client, a significant developer and producer of wind energy, and one of the sectors leading innovators, required regional site assessments to determine LCOE development costs to form the basis of the lease bidding.

How we helped

LR was commissioned to conduct a geological, geotechnical and metocean study to assess the feasibility of developing offshore wind in each lease block. We evaluated four separate blocks within the licence area and recommended which site to take forward for development. As part of this process we determined appropriate foundation concepts and installation techniques, enabling accurate LCOE cost estimates for each of the blocks.

Our assessments included high level design ranges using our experience of developing offshore wind farm sites in analogous glacially derived soils at similar latitudes in Europe. We were able to identify potential hazards whilst considering all other relevant constraints.

We carried out the following technical assessments:

• Characterisation of seabed and sub-seabed conditions through integration of available hydrographic, geotechnical and geophysical datasets.
• Designed scopes of work for future offshore surveys and for lease area favourability zoning.
• Preliminary foundation concept selection including design ranges.
• Assessed the average and extreme wind, wave and current conditions expected through the lifecycle of a wind farm for each leasing area.

Powerful results

We helped our client to identify accurate costs for developing each leasing block that would minimise the risk of overspending during the lease auctioning process. LRs experience of developing offshore wind on numerous sites enabled realistic cost estimates which underpinned the successful acquisition of the lease block.