GEOxyz

GEOxyz, the Belgium-headquartered marine site investigation specialist, has been appointed by the LirIC interconnector project team to carry out unexploded ordnance (UXO) investigation and geotechnical surveys along the proposed cable corridor between Northern Ireland and Scotland. The marine survey programme covers offshore and nearshore segments of the planned ~142 km HVDC cable route between converter stations at Kilroot (Northern Ireland, 275 kV) and Hunterston (Scotland, 400 kV) under the bed of the Irish Sea. Geo Ocean IX, GEOxyz's offshore survey vessel, will conduct the offshore UXO investigation using towed detection equipment and the geotechnical survey work, which includes cone penetration testing (CPT) and vibrocore sampling. GeoSurveyor VIII will carry out the nearshore surveys in water depths shallower than 10 metres LAT. No UXO detonation or disposal activities are planned under this scope; suspected items would be left in situ for handling by a separate workstream. The marine surveys are scheduled to begin on 24 May 2026 and complete by approximately 8 July 2026, subject to weather and operational constraints. The survey campaign is a key pre-development engineering milestone for the 700 MW LirIC interconnector, which will provide additional capacity between the Irish Integrated Single Energy Market (I-SEM) and the Great Britain wholesale electricity market once built.