Nexans keeps weaving its subsea web of renewables as cable burial ops wrap up at UK offshore wind farm

With a new turnkey cable burial campaign out of the way, France’s cable systems designer and manufacturer Nexans continues interlacing new renewable energy threads into its underwater green power network. SEAJET and 23 Degrees Renewables, two businesses within the UK-headquartered OEG Renewables’ cable service line, have performed this cable burial operation at an undisclosed offshore wind farm site on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

The work scope, encompassing trenching and burial of shallow water export cables at an offshore wind farm site in the UK, was executed by SEAJET, which utilized its all-electric controlled flow excavation (E-CFE) technology, called HYDROMOLE, which features an advanced control system said to allow performance to be monitored and optimized in real-time, ensuring reliability and maximizing project uptime.

Faisel Chaudry, Managing Director of SEAJET, commented: “The SEAJET team has over 20 years of operational experience with traditional hydraulic CFE systems, and we have never seen a CFE system deliver such high performance results as this, which was particularly impressive given the challenging shallow water environment with a high tidal range.

“Our clients are now seeing the benefits of our HYDROMOLE system, which offers unparalleled power, and highly acclaimed health, safety and environmental advancements, and we are delighted to have delivered such a successful work scope.”

The compact deck space onboard an ultra-shallow draft multicast vessel from which HYDROMOLE was deployed for the completion of the seabed intervention work scope is believed to have enabled SEAJET to demonstrate the adaptability of the equipment spread, which was easily accommodated onto the vessel deck that had limited available space.

OEG Renewables, a division of OEG Energy Group, underlines that this technology brings multiple benefits, including a significant cut in CO2 emissions, removal of the risk of high-pressure, high-volume oil spills into the marine environment, and noise pollution curbs.

David Carr, Chief Commercial Officer of OEG Energy Group, and Director of OEG Renewables’ Cables division, said: “We are thrilled to have successfully delivered this integrated solution, providing excellent results for our customer through leveraging the combined strengths, capabilities and technological expertise from two OEG Renewables businesses within our cables service line.

“SEAJET is just the latest technology company that we have invested in and nurtured with the intent of developing a stronger UK supply chain creating highly skilled jobs and cutting edge British designed and built innovative solutions for the offshore renewables sector.”

The UK player explains that the cable burial project encountered operational shallow water conditions challenges, as it presented tight weather windows to conduct work and fluctuating tidal ranges, however, the SEAJET team still demonstrated the HYDROMOLE system’s ability to deliver up to 100% more power than any legacy hydraulic CFE systems currently on the market.

Geir Korstad, Project Manager at Nexans, underlined: “There is no doubt that the HYDROMOLE is a very powerful tool, and we are extremely impressed with the burial results from this campaign. The environmental benefits of the HYDROMOLE were greatly appreciated and the SEAJET team were highly skilled and professional in successfully delivering the project for us.”

Given the rise in demand within the offshore wind and electrification arenas, Nexans recently opened the expanded section of its high-voltage subsea cable plant in Norway for business. At this facility, the French cable maker manufactured subsea cables destined for installation on the first pre-permitted, utility-scale, grid-connected wave energy test site in the United States.

In addition, the firm is busy with multiple projects, including the installation campaign for the HVAC onshore cable in Ireland for the Celtic Interconnector, which represents the first subsea cable undertaking to enable the exchange of electricity between Ireland and France.

Greece’s Asso.subsea recently joined forces with Nexans to perform subsea burial operations for the project bringing Ireland’s first power connection with continental Europe to life.