CWind cable team demonstrations
By:
Chris Anderson
06/11/2015
Cwind
CWind completes cable team demonstrations in
Barrow-in-Furness
CWind, a provider of services to the offshore wind industry, has completed
a week of cable team demonstrations at its training facility in Barrow-in-Furness.
In separate sessions over four days, clients, including wind farm owners,
cable-laying companies and IMR service providers from the UK, Benelux and
Germany, were given the opportunity to observe CWind’s pull-in of an offshore
wind power cable. CWind is providing clients with an innovative and
cost-reducing solution that incorporates the lessons learnt on to date
nine offshore wind farms where CWind has provided this service.
CWind utilised the Barrow-in-Furness training tower of NWFTC, its training
centre, to demonstrate the pull-in in a realistic scenario. The tower,
which is also used for pre-project scenario testing, is the UK’s only
onshore training tower with a real transition piece. Clients were given
the opportunity to climb the tower and observe the tower team during the
pull-in of the cable. The demonstration also allowed a view into what would
be under water underneath the confined space and monitor the progress of
the cable through the aperture.
Lee Andrews, Operations Director at CWind commented on the success of the
demonstrations: “Interest among clients has been really high for these
demonstrations, we had to put on more sessions than we had anticipated.”
Offering two sessions a day, CWind had the opportunity to demonstrate its
methods and procedures. Lee Andrews said: “I believe the interest we’ve
seen this week reflects not only the high appetite for innovative methods
in our industry, but it is also a sign that our track record in pulling-in
cables with speed and efficiency is being recognised as outstanding. At
West of Duddon Sands, which is just off the coast of Barrow here, we connected
array cables to the two turbines either side in under five hours and at
one of our German projects we have recently completed a turbine a day,
both of which remain industry leading records. Accuracy and safety are
paramount when it comes to dealing with cables, our ability to combine
these with well-trained, highly experienced teams and professional project
management pays off for our clients every time.”