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At Ternan Energy our team has significant and diverse experience working in all aspects of marine geoscience. With a wide range of skill sets and experience we believe it is important to bring this all together to provide the best service to our clients.

We refer to it internally as the 5G's and how integration is so important, but let's explain that a little bit more and how it benefits our clients.

What does it mean?

Everything that happens at Ternan Energy is the result of teamwork and integration of the 5G's, the 5 G-disciplines that are key to offshore renewables development and reflect our team's disciplines, knowledge, and skills. We talk about it a lot because it is the cornerstone of our services and how we make things happen.

What are the 5G's?

Geology - the fundamental understanding of planet Earth, its internal structure, the processes that shape it now and throughout all of its history 

Geotechnical engineering - the understanding and knowledge of the physical, mechanical and chemical properties of soil and rock for the design of foundations and support structures

Geophysics -  material properties that affect the way acoustic waves travel through them, geophysical methods are used for mapping the seabed and subsurface

Geomorphology - understanding of physical structures on the seabed and the processes that generate them

GIS (Geographical Information Systems) - a digital platform that is georeferenced and brings it all together, where data can be analysed and the results displayed

The right skills at the right time

Each project requires a team of the right set of core disciplines to deliver the scope of work. At Ternan we provide a bespoke team to bring the right disciplines to your project.

By using the full complement of skill sets across Ternan, we put together a core team that will also be able to call on the rest of the Ternan team and our wider industry connections. This means we can always provide the right skills and experience required.

What impact do they have on each other?

Each discipline has a massive impact on one another and in many ways cannot work in isolation.

Geological maps allow us to understand the wider geological context, processes, and evolution of an area through different palaeoenvironmental stages. Often these events leave a geomorphological footprint on the surface that gets modified by but also influences present-day processes. All this will give us some basic understanding of an area and the soils or rocks that are likely to be found there. This means that we can confidently make an educated guess of what materials we should anticipate to find supporting early engineering concepts.

This early knowledge can often inform on the viability of a project, the financial impact and, if deemed profitable and worth proceeding with, informing the design of site-specific surveys and the specifications of new data to be collected. In light of new data, our understanding becomes more and more focused and detailed for the project of interest. All this knowledge is layered in a GIS platform that not only simplifies the way data is depicted, but also allows us to see the interactions and create workflows for mapping specific hazards or creating the best routes for cables. We can manage the collection of this data and put everything under the figurative microscope to analyse the results.

During the life cycle of the project as more data is gathered, we go back to each different skillset as needed to refine and progress our understanding of the site.

These investigations may happen at different times in a project. Seabed or seismic surveys are carried out early on as they allow us to image the structure of the site, the layering and homogeneity (or lack thereof), the variability and complexity. Some preliminary reconnaissance geotechnical data may be acquired early on, but usually a geotechnical investigation is undertaken later on. Further surveying often happens at different stages of a project. For each of these phases we at Ternan can draw on the appropriate disciplines to enable us to bring all the data together and grow our knowledge and understanding and provide the best possible advice and solutions to our Clients at any given stage.

Why do we believe it is important to have an integrated geoscience approach?

Early integration of all the data, disciplines and resources is what characterises Ternan's output. We know the importance of looking at the site conditions and risks involved in a project in a holistic manner.

By identifying risks early on and using all our skills and resources to bring in mitigating solutions we can save our Clients time and money through the project lifecycle.

Each discipline has its own purpose, and we can provide all the data in a format that is easy to see, use, and interpret. Our GIS services are used to visualise all aspects of the 5Gs setting the Standard for integrated geo-projects. 

Communication and teamwork are key to the work we carry out here at Ternan Energy.