Equinor to Conduct Fish Survey at Hywind Scotland Floating OWF

Equinor operates the world's first floating wind farm, Hywind Scotland. Having learned about the work of Akvaplan-niva in the 'GLIDER' project, Equinor has now contracted Akvaplan-niva to deploy a glider performing a fish survey. The data collected in the survey will help scientists to identify whether the windmill infrastructure creates a reef effect leading to aggregation of fish.

Akvaplan-niva will use their Sailbuoy, one of 3 different types of gliders the company operates. The glider weighs 60 kg and is 2 meters long. It utilizes wind for propulsion and solar energy to charge the batteries that power sensors, navigation system and satellite communication. For the fish survey the glider will be equipped with a Simrad broad band echo sounder (WBT mini EK80).

The Sailbuoy will be deployed from Norway. Sailbuoy pilot, Yngve Svensby, will operate the glider remotely from his PC as it crosses the North Sea to Peterhead, UK where it will carry out its mission. After one month of survey, the Sailbuoy will be piloted back to Norway and be recovered from the sea.