Are you competing for the rights to develop offshore wind sites in the Celtic Sea? There is data available now that can help you gain an advantage. RockWave has already proved this for a ScotWind consortium, and it could work for you too.

Proven to contain valuable information...

Offshore UK & Ireland, there exists an abundance of seismic data that was originally acquired for the Oil & Gas industry. However, the data have typically been thought to lack sufficient resolution to gain an understanding of the shallow geology and foundation/anchor zone.

Since RockWave brought the concept of ‘Repurposing’ to SSE, Mauribeni and CIP as part of their successful ScotWind application, this is no longer true.

What is Repurposing?

As part of the consortium's successful ScotWind application, RockWave obtained the raw field data from the North Sea Transition Authority “MNSH 2D” dataset, a UK government-funded survey acquired in 2015 to generate O&G exploration activity. Where a typical O&G seismic processing workflow would throw away useful samples representing the shallow subsurface in favour of deep exploration targets, RockWave instead designed their Repurposing workflow to maximise this information. At every stage, the data was conditioned to ensure as many details in this crucial zone were retained and optimised.

The consortium then worked with the Atkins Ground Engineering and Tunnelling team, who used the Repurposed data to accurately map Quaternary sediment thickness across the site and identify possible geohazards such as depressions, tunnel valleys, faults and gas pockets that will require further investigation once ultra-high resolution site investigations have been completed.

This project has been nominated for the 'Award for Technical Excellence' in the Ground Engineering Awards 2022.

Offshore Wind in the Celtic Sea...

The Celtic Sea is the focus for the next Repurposing adventure where energy producers are looking at floating and fixed solutions for their offshore wind developments.

The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult Floating Offshore Wind Constraint Mapping document provides a detailed evaluation of the Celtic Sea for the purposes of Floating Wind development identifying four key development zones. Seabed composition has not been used to constrain these areas, and whilst a broad regional map is provided, it is noted that a more detailed assessment of the seabed will be required to support anchor selection and design.

Furthermore, the Irish government has set ambitious targets for offshore wind power generation by 2030 and the likes of SSE and Energia have already announced their plans in the Celtic Sea, with more interest being shown from others in the region.

"The data reprocessing and repurposing workflows being used by RockWave have the potential to allow us to unlock datasets that have previously been ignored and forgotten. This could be a potential game changer in the offshore renewables and infrastructure market." - Repurposing Client, May 2021.

How to use Repurposed data...

Repurposed O&G seismic data is available in the North Sea and Celtic Sea (see maps below). The new data will prove useful to developers who would like a better understanding of depth to bedrock, presence of geohazards and other financially impacting considerations.

The Repurposed data can be delivered to a destination of your choice for interpretation and mapping out the significant subsurface features within an early-stage ground model. You will either have this capability in house, or we can put you in touch with people that do.

Repurposing will not replace the need to acquire an ultra-high resolution seismic (UHRS) survey later down the road, which are more densely acquired over a smaller area. However, armed with a better understanding of the subsurface considerations, it might mean you can reduce spending on these geophysical surveys through less line kms, or allocating the same budget for a smarter acquisition by focusing on areas that require more detailed investigation.

Your next step...

RockWave has successfully applied Repurposing to the following modern O&G seismic datasets, with additional data to be announced soon:

• Mid North Sea High (MNSH) 2D
• Southwest Approaches 2D

The North Sea Transition Authority MNSH 2D covers the UK North Sea and was used in ScotWind as described above, while the SW Approaches 2D dataset provides coverage across the Celtic Sea ORE Catapult Key Development Zones 1,2,3 & 5.

To express your interest in Repurposed data for your development, email seismic@rockwave.xyz and we will respond within 24 hours.

Matt Swan & Alastair MacLeod will also be attending Global Offshore Wind 2022 (#rukgow22) in Manchester on Tuesday 21st June, connect with them if you would like to meet up.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: RockWave