In recent weeks members of the Caithness public may have noticed some activity by MeyGen Ltd. around the Pentland Firth Inner Sound and at Ness of Quoys. This activity is related to two site surveys being undertaken, one offshore and one onshore. The first, a seabed survey was carried out at the beginning of July using a multi-beam echo-sounder, side-scan sonar and magnetometers. This will allow the detailed analysis of the submarine cable route for the first array of tidal turbines and to confirm that there are no obstructions or anomalies that might interfere with this route.
The second, an onshore survey carried out in October, comprised of a number of small excavations and a deep bore drill at the Ness of Quoys. The purpose of these was to establish the ground and substructure conditions. The small excavations, down to the rock head, known as logging pits were used to investigate the top soil and overburden in preparation for any civil works that would take place.
The drilling extracted core samples down to 65m. This depth was chosen as it gives an indication of the strata at the depths beneath the Inner Sound seabed that may be reached by the horizontal directional drilled bores for bringing submarine cables to shore and for drilled foundations for the turbines.
In parallel to this MeyGen has also been collecting metocean data, such as tidal flow characteristics and wave configurations, using Acoustic Doppler buoys and X-band Radar.
