Equinor contracts Ocean Infinity for California floating wind site survey

Ocean Infinity will undertake Equinor site investigation using multiple AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) simultaneously.

Moving ahead on its plans to develop one of the first-ever floating offshore wind farms off the U.S. West Coast, Equinor, has signed a contract that will see Austin, Texas, headquartered Ocean Infinity undertake a comprehensive site investigation survey of offshore wind lease area OCS-P 0563, won by Equinor Wind US LLC with a $150 million bid in BOEM’s December 2023 lease auction.

Ocean Infinity, best known for its ambitious build out of an “armada” of robotic undersea vessels, will undertake the site investigation using multiple AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) simultaneously.

“The U.S. West Coast with its challenging deep water topography presents another excellent opportunity for Ocean Infinity to deliver the value of its multi-AUV capabilities for its clients,” says Shawntel Johnson, director, business development at Ocean Infinity. “AUVs in scale are the perfect tool for this region providing not only great data quality advantages over towed arrays, in the water depths spanning from 974 to 1317 meters (about 4,507 feet), but also huge efficiency over wide areas.”

The survey scope encompasses a range of offshore surveys. The critical data acquisitions are integral components for Equinor to mature its design basis as well as inform the Site Assessment Plan (SAP) and Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for the OCS-P 0563 lease area.

Ocean Infinity says that its high quality data sets will facilitate informed decision-making and meticulous planning for the construction and operational phases.

Oliver Plunkett, CEO at Ocean Infinity says that the Morro Bay project marks an important milestone for his forward-focused young company.

“When Ocean Infinity was formed, the idea of using robotics at enormous scale to collect more data, faster and with less environmental impact while optimizing safety was our guiding principle,” says Plunkett. This project is that entire vision coming to life. It’s exciting and rewarding to work with clients such as Equinor who share our vision, can see the power of robotics and our unique understanding as tech innovators, and will reap the benefits as we support them in driving the energy transition.

“Ocean Infinity’s fleet of globally-located uncrewed vessels and around 20 AUVs, the world’s largest fleet of full capability deep water Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, ideally place the company to support the ongoing growth in offshore renewable energy in the U.S., and globally.”