WORKING AT HEIGHTS - Wind Energy Network

specialist surveying featureA revolution in surveyingbirds and mammalsThe past five years have seen arevolution in the way birds and marinemammals are surveyed as part ofthe consenting process for offshorewindfarms, with the UK emergingas the world leader in digital aerialsurveys. The potential impact onbirds and mammals of proposedoffshore windfarms is an importantconsideration in securing consent,so accurately counting the birds andmammals and identifying their speciesis important.Modern digital aerial surveysIn the past, boat-based observersequipped with little more than binocularsand clipboards carried out most offshorebird and mammal surveys. Modern digitalaerial surveys instead use hi tech, ultrahigh resolution digital cameras fitted toaircraft to take thousands of images overthe proposed windfarm area, capturingeach and every animal ‘on film’. Theprocess is usually faster, cheaper andmore accurate. Importantly, aerial surveysare also safer, because by being quickerto complete, they require staff to spendless time offshore.Round 3 zonesDevelopers of the UK’sRound Three offshorewind farm zones reliedheavily on digital aerialsurveys, with regulatorsnow increasinglyfollowing suit. Surveyspecialists APEM workedon seven of the ninezones and were recentlyhired by Natural Englandand the CountrysideCommission for Walesto carry out importantsurveys in the OuterThames and CarmarthenBay special protectionareas.AccreditationStuart Clough, Remote Sensing Director atAPEM, said: “Aerial surveys are actuallyjust the start of our work, when wegather the raw data. Back on the groundthe heart of the process is our team ofexpert ornithologists who analyse everyimage. Our quality control systems meanthat we’ve become the first companyto gain accreditation from UKAS forcounting and identifying birds in digitalaerial photographs.”APEMwww.apemltd.co.ukTailor madesurveysolutionsInsight Marine Projects Ltd is aspecialist hydrographic surveycompany providing tailor madesolutions to the offshore renewableenergy industry. The companyregularly works in areas withchallenging sea conditions on waveand tidal energy installations. Theybelieve that some of the systems andequipment we have developed aredirectly relevant to the offshore windindustry as the next round of windfarms expand into areas of deeperwater with stronger currents.In position at the right timeThe survey/positioning challenge whilstworking in demanding environmentsand with emerging technologies is toensure that the construction vessel andassociated equipment is all in position atthe right time, and is able to stay there,in order to maximise the operating timeavailable to the project construction team.With the proper systems and equipment,operational time can be maximised togreatest effect whilst reducing potentialdowntime due to equipment failures,thereby helping to reduce overall projectcosts.Deployed systems include...• Bespoke tug management suites• Multi-sensor data buoy systems• Multi-channel data telemetry• Integration with DP systems to visuallywarn project personnel of vessel run-offs• CUBIT, the all-in-one navigation systemoffering multiple levels of hardware andsoftware failover protectionA case studyInsight Marine Projects recently providedsurvey support during the installation of anovel monopile foundation developed byBauer Renewables Ltd. An exceptionalchallenge was posed not only by thedrilling works at a water depth of 37meters, but also by the extremely strongcurrents.Whilst wind turbines are not currentlybeing constructed in these conditions,there are several transferrable systemsand technologies that can be applied tothe more challenging conditions beingconsidered for the next round of wind farmdevelopments, to help them achieve bettercost efficiency and success.Insight Marine Projectswww.insight-marine.co.ukwww.windenergynetwork.co.uk109