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First
Subsea has completed its first customer witnessed open water demonstration
of a new Cable Protection System (CPS) for offshore wind farms. The CPS
protects subsea power cables as they transition from the seabed into the
wind turbine structure.
The First Subsea CPS is being deployed on DONG Energy's
Hornsea
Project One offshore wind farm.
First Subsea claims its new CPS system offers a quicker installation and
reduced risk of cable fatigue compared to traditional systems. Based on
technology used for the protection of umbilicals and risers in the oil
and gas industry, the CPS provides a non-destructive disconnection via
Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV).
The open water CPS demonstration took place at Rovtech Solutions’ Underwater
Test Facilities in Barrow-in-Furness, and consisted of: assembly dockside,
deployment subsea and pull-in into a mock-up wind turbine structure and
disconnection by ROV. The test facilities allowed the demonstration to
take place in open water as close to offshore conditions as possible, incorporating
challenges such as poor visibility and seabed interference, while still
being accessible and visible from the dockside.
“We are delighted to have successfully demonstrated to customers how
quick and simple the installation and removal of our new CPS is,”
says John Shaw, managing director, First Subsea.
“Following a recent
contract to supply CPS to the Hornsea Project One, this is another significant
milestone in our development and growth in the offshore renewables market."
The
Hornsea
Project One is scheduled to be
operational in 2020 and with a 1.2GW capacity it is expected to provide
enough energy to meet the demands of one million UK homes. The wind farm
is being built 120km east of the Humber Estuary and will cover an area
of approximately 407km
2, which is over five times the size of
the city of Hull.
The project will feature 174
Siemens'
SWT-7.0-154 turbines which stand
at 190m, larger than the Gherkin building in London. The turbines will
be mounted on 116 monopile foundations and 58 jacket foundations.
For more information please follow the links provided.