Scottish Power Renewables Tidal Turbine
Scottish Power Renewables Tidal Turbine Site Surveys
SPR Geophysical Site Investigations and Resource Surveys
Project Status: Ongoing
Start Date: 1st July 2008
On behalf of Scottish Power Renewables and Hammerfest Strom AS, iXSurvey Limited conducted a series of geophysical site investigations at five locations: in the Sound of Islay, in the Pentland Firth, offshore the Orkney Isles and offshore Northern Ireland. The surveys were to locate areas suitable for the installation of a prototype tidal turbine device and its cables to shore, and were conducted using multibeam echosounder, sidescan sonar, sub- bottom profiler and vessel mounted acoustic doppler current profiler.
The geophysical survey programme comprised approximately 100 days' fieldwork. In some areas surveyed, currents of over 12 knots were experienced, with extensive turbulence and eddying being seen. However, iXSurvey's GAPS USBL system, manufactured by sister company iXSea, performed excellently, allowing detailed sonar mosaics to be produced. Heading data from the sonar towfish was also incorporated into the positioning solution.
iXSurvey returned to Orkney in the Spring of 2009 to install a heavy duty seabed frame equipped with an acoustic doppler current profiler to measure currents throughout the water column and single point current meter to measure turbulence 6 metres above the seabed.
They talk about us :
BBC News : Project aims to harness sea power
