Fugro has secured a two-year environmental services contract with EirGrid, Ireland’s state-owned electricity transmission operator, to provide long-term marine mammal monitoring along Ireland’s south coast.
The work will support EirGrid’s Powering Up Offshore – South Coast programme, which is developing the electricity transmission infrastructure needed to connect future offshore wind farms to Ireland’s national grid. Once complete, the programme is expected to enable the connection of approximately 900 MW of renewable electricity, enough to power almost one million homes.
The contract also marks the first commercial deployment of Fugro’s purpose-built marine mammal monitoring mooring system. Fugro will install and maintain a network of eight static, silent seabed moorings fitted with underwater acoustic sensors. These instruments will detect and record the presence and activity of cetaceans, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, and will help establish an environmental baseline for the area.
Long-term acoustic monitoring is increasingly important for offshore renewable energy projects, where environmental data is needed to support site assessment, project design, permitting and regulatory engagement. By tracking seasonal and longer-term changes in marine mammal activity, the programme will provide EirGrid with evidence to inform future offshore infrastructure planning and comparative environmental surveys as development progresses.
Robert Fennelly, Senior Ecologist at EirGrid, said that robust ecological studies are fundamental to the responsible development of offshore renewable energy projects. ‘Long-term monitoring helps us build a clear, evidence-based understanding of the marine environment we operate in,’ he said.
Fugro will regularly recover and analyse the recorded data, providing EirGrid with summary updates on cetacean activity and annual reports on species presence and distribution across the monitoring area. The resulting dataset will support environmental assessment and help guide decision-making as Ireland advances its offshore wind ambitions.
‘The insights we gain from this work are essential to informing project design, supporting regulatory processes, and ensuring that we minimise potential impacts while delivering critical infrastructure,’ Fennelly added. ‘EirGrid is committed to integrating high-quality environmental data into all stages of our offshore programmes as we work to enable Ireland’s transition to a low-carbon energy future.’
Andy Addleton, Fugro’s Environmental Service Line Manager for Europe and Africa, said that for projects of this scale, having the right environmental information at the right time is critical. ‘Long-term monitoring enables a deeper understanding of marine mammal presence, helping EirGrid make informed decisions as offshore infrastructure plans progress,’ he said.
The contract builds on Fugro’s existing seven-year framework agreement with EirGrid and reflects the growing role of environmental monitoring, seabed data and marine geoscience in the responsible development of offshore renewable energy infrastructure.
Read also these relevant papers on this subject in EarthDoc (for EAGE members):
- Imaging with Compact, Low-Impact Sources
- Underwater Sound Measurements During 3D Seismic Acquisition in Shallow Water, Dutch Southern North Sea
- Monitoring and mitigation of sound exposure from seismic surveys for a feeding whale population
