Improved Sub-bottom Data for Offshore Wind

THURN Group Ltd. develops innovative sonar technologies for specialist applications in the offshore survey industry. This project involves the development of a novel sonar system to improve mapping of sediment layers and objects under the seabed, to address engineering challenges encountered in the planning, design, installation and maintenance of offshore wind energy infrastructure. Climate change priorities have led to increasing demand for offshore wind energy and this has highlighted the engineering challenges, including obtaining adequate information about the sub-seabed. Current sub-bottom sonar survey technology has poor horizontal resolution and low signal levels. This project uses a combination of novel hardware and software to address these challenges, providing better resolution of buried objects and improved depth penetration. This creates significant savings in terms of survey time required per turbine installation and reduces the uncertainty and risk in the site engineering. Funding will enable evaluation of the technical feasability of applying this technology to real offshore sites. If the technical feasability is confirmed, THURN will manufacture products to compete in the global offshore survey equipment market, with systems available for use from 2018.