Tekmar, Covestro looking into more sustainable materials for subsea cable protection

Tekmar Group and Covestro have set up a long-term collaboration to explore alternative and more sustainable materials for subsea cable protection systems (CPS).

According to Tekmar, one of the major challenges is the reconciliation of sustainability and technical performance, without any compromise on quality.

To solve this, Covestro has developed a new polyurethane elastomer system based on its CO₂ Technology, now called Triturn, which is said to positively contribute to reducing the products´ carbon footprint.

The new system for bend restrictors allows to reuse CO₂ as a valuable material source in polyol production and reduce up to 20% of the fossil raw materials which is normally used for the polyol.

The system is also said to make significant technical gains by being easier to process and improving non-aging properties in saltwater.

Tekmar is using the new PU system to manufacture sample products at its facility in the North East of England and is currently conducting a range of tests on the products.

Marc Bell, managing director at Tekmar Energy, said: “Tekmar is committed to developing more sustainable solutions for the offshore energy markets. Working with Covestro enables us to explore alternative solutions which we can share with our customers to support their transition to cleaner energy and net-zero emission targets.”