Pasadena-based engineering and infrastructure giant Tetra Tech Inc. has been awarded a three-year contract worth approximately $14 million to assess marine environmental conditions in preparation for the development of a wind-generation project off the Australian coast.
The award, announced last month, is from Flotation Energy, an offshore wind-farm developer owned by the Japanese utility Tokyo Electric Power Co. Flotation Energy is developing the Seadragon wind farm about 20 miles off the coast of the Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. The wind farm would have an output of about 1,500 megawatts – enough to power as many as 1 million homes for a year; the project’s cost is currently pegged at more than $4 billion.
Tetra Tech’s contract, announced last month, calls for the company to assess the presence and conditions of mammals, birds, fish and benthic and coastal processes in the proposed wind farm location. Tetra Tech said it would use visual and digital aerial surveys, passive acoustic monitoring, biologging, and satellite tagging techniques. In addition, Tetra Tech will measure ocean waves, currents and water levels in the area.
Tetra Tech won the contract through its British unit RPS, which it recently acquired. Flotation Energy’s headquarters is in Edinburgh, Scotland, and RPS had operations in Australia prior to the merger.
“We understand the importance of offshore wind power to the world’s sustainable energy portfolio and net-zero future,” Dan Batrack, Tetra Tech’s chief executive, said in the announcement.
