Carbon Trust is planning to conduct the offshore wind cable study.
A significant number of UK offshore wind farms have experienced difficulties associated with the installation and burial of intra-array cables. In 2011, the OWA commissioned a study to develop recommendations for optimised cable installation methodologies that could be applied to large wind farms such as the UK Round 3 developments. As a novel alternative to J-tubes, it was recommended that the feasibility and benefits of a cabling design involving free-hanging cables attached to the turbine platform be explored. The cables (dynamic or static cables) would therefore have to be designed for dynamic conditions. This novel alternative is a potential solution to reduce installation cost and has been used in Oil and Gas applications.
The cable would be connected to the platform and would be left free-hanging to the seabed, requiring use of dynamic cable designs. Cable suppliers have already confirmed the feasibility of such a cable design and the OWA Cables Technical Working Group would like to better understand the benefits.
The objectives of this study are to:
[mappress]
Offshore WIND staff, November 12, 2012; Image: britned