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Tekmar supporting Ørsted with cable issues

4C Offshore | Tom Russell
By: Tom Russell 04/05/2021 Tekmar Group
Tekmar Group has issued an update in response to commentary provided by Ørsted in its Q1 interim report, published on 29 April 2021, which outlined potential cable issues on several offshore wind farms across the UK and Continental Europe.

The issue occurs when the cable protection system (CPS) moves across the scour protection (i.e. rocks placed on the seabed around the foundations to avoid seabed erosion), abrading the CPS and in the worst-case scenario causing the cables to fail. Ørsted's early assessment points to a total financial impact of around DKK 3 billion across 2021 to 2023 for remedial works.


Ally MacDonald, CEO of Tekmar Group, commented: "We note the comments made by Ørsted in their recent interim report relating to their discovery of array cable issues on a number of their wind farms across the UK and Continental Europe, and more specifically, in relation to cable protection systems. We are in discussions with Ørsted relating to the protection of their installed array cables on one offshore wind farm project, namely Race Bank in the UK, and are supporting them to identify the root cause and remedial actions through standard operational engagement.

"The main issue noted by Ørsted relates to abrasion of legacy cable protection systems ("CPS") caused by movement of the CPS over the rock-scour installed on the seabed.  Ørsted highlighted that this was a change in cable installation methodology across ten projects, where a second layer of rock was not used to stabilise the cable.

"The installation and maintenance of cables and cable protection systems in challenging subsea environments is complex and failure can be the result of many factors, including areas we are not involved in such as installation and scour protection. The technology solution continues to evolve as the industry matures to meet the changing requirements to support offshore wind projects, such that CPS abrasion is not expected to be an issue for future installations.

"At this stage, in relation to our ongoing discussions with Orsted, we do not anticipate a material financial impact for Tekmar Group and we will provide shareholders with further information as and when appropriate."


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