Ireland: Fugro has been awarded a two-year environmental services contract by EirGrid, Ireland’s state-owned electricity transmission operator, to carry out long-term marine mammal monitoring off the country’s south coast.
The project will support EirGrid’s Powering Up Offshore – South Coast programme, which is developing the electricity infrastructure required to connect future offshore wind farms to Ireland’s national grid. It also marks the first commercial use of Fugro’s specially designed mooring system.
When completed, the programme is expected to connect around 900 MW of renewable electricity, enough to supply almost one million homes. The initiative is set to play an important role in strengthening Ireland’s energy security and supporting its climate goals.
As part of the contract, Fugro will deploy and maintain eight silent seabed monitoring units. These anchored systems are fitted with underwater acoustic sensors that can detect and record the activity of cetaceans, including whales, dolphins and porpoises. The equipment will help create an environmental baseline and monitor seasonal and long-term changes in marine mammal activity, particularly harbour porpoises that regularly visit the area.
Fugro will recover and analyse the collected data at regular intervals, providing EirGrid with updates on cetacean activity as well as annual reports on species presence and distribution. The information will assist environmental assessments, regulatory discussions and future surveys as offshore development moves forward.
EirGrid said the monitoring programme will provide valuable environmental data to support project planning, regulatory requirements and efforts to minimise potential impacts while delivering essential infrastructure for Ireland’s low-carbon energy transition.
Source: Energy Global
