SeaRoc Equips Hornsea One RCS with SeaHub Communications System

SeaRoc Group has deployed its SeaHub Communications System on Hornsea Project One’s Reactive Compensation Station (RCS) – the world’s first offshore RCS – thus delivering the third SeaHub system for Ørsted’s 1.2GW offshore wind farm in the UK.

The SeaHub installed on the Hornsea One RCS is the seventh in total to be deployed on an Ørsted project in the UK, following those installed on Race Bank, Burbo Bank Extension and Walney Extension.

SeaRoc said the system supplied for the RCS as an 8ft ISO DNV certified container, housing all the equipment required for reliable communications and logistical data sharing for the offshore wind project located 120km from shore.

Anthony Collingridge, SeaRoc Group Project Manager for Ørsted, said: “This particular SeaHub has received some modifications in order to support the requirements of the Reactive Compensation Station on which it was installed. Due to size limitations of the platform, we had to adapt the SeaHub design utilising a smaller container specification than we had previously, whilst still incorporating all the same capabilities and remaining compliant with DNV requirements.”

The other two SeaHub units that SeaRoc Group provided for Hornsea Project One utilise 10ft ISO DNV certified containers installed with a 9-metre lattice tower in order to deploy communications antenna with sufficient height clearance from local obstacles to maximise VHF, AIS & UHF TETRA coverage around the site, SeaRoc said.

Hornsea Project One RCS was installed at the end of June of this year.

The offshore wind farm will comprise 174 Siemens Gamesa 7MW turbines and will become the largest offshore wind farm in the world when fully commissioned in 2020.