At Utsira Nord, which is situated in an area where the water depth is approximately 270 metres, TGS will utilise a lidar buoy provided by Eolos. The company’s FLS200 LiDAR buoy achieved Stage 3 rating under the Carbon Trust Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) Roadmap for the Commercial Acceptance of floating LiDAR technology in February last year.

In addition, TGS will deploy a Datawell Directional WaveRider buoy to cross-validate the fatigue limit state (FLS) wave response and measurements.

The TGS buoy will deliver data over a twelve-month measurement campaign with the option to extend for an additional year.

In addition to wind speed measurements, the data package includes critical metocean and environmental data such as wave heights, ocean current profiles, and acoustic monitoring of birds and bats.

Data will be continuously streamed, quality-controlled, and available to customers daily through the Wind AXIOM platform, said TGS.

“The data, combined with analytics through our Wind AXIOM platform, are expected to significantly enhance the decision-making and risk-reduction ability of all stakeholders investing in this region’s offshore wind development future”, said Jan Schoolmeesters, EVP of Digital Energy Solutions at TGS.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre kicked off Norway’s first-ever offshore wind lease round in March.

Applications for leases are scheduled to be submitted by early September, with awards expected in December.

The Utsira Nord area has a capacity of 1.5 GW, which the government will divide into three sites, each of which can accommodate a wind farm of 500 MW.