Review of Cabling Techniques and Environmental Effects Applicable
Review of Cabling Techniques and Environmental Effects Applicable
Review of Cabling Techniques and Environmental Effects Applicable
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<strong>Review</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Cabling</strong> <strong>Techniques</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Environmental</strong> <strong>Effects</strong> <strong>Applicable</strong> to the Offshore Wind<br />
Farm Industry – Technical Report<br />
3.9 Cable Protection for Offshore Wind Farm Developments<br />
This section <strong>of</strong> the report focuses specifically on the various cable protection<br />
methods which are relevant to the <strong>of</strong>fshore wind farm industry. This section also<br />
includes feedback from cable installation works which have been completed on<br />
a number <strong>of</strong> UK Round 1 <strong>of</strong>fshore wind farms.<br />
Cable burial will be the primary cable protection methodology for the export<br />
cables which connect the wind farm to the shore <strong>and</strong> for the inter-array cables<br />
which connect the <strong>of</strong>fshore WTGs to each other <strong>and</strong> inter-arrays. Section 3.9.1<br />
reviews the cable burial methodologies which were presented in Section 3.8 <strong>and</strong><br />
notes which <strong>of</strong> these techniques are most relevant for <strong>of</strong>fshore wind farms. The<br />
type <strong>of</strong> cable burial machine which is used on any <strong>of</strong>fshore wind farm project<br />
will always be determined by the seabed conditions which exist at the site, the<br />
choice <strong>of</strong> contractor who is selected to undertake the installation work <strong>and</strong> the<br />
availability <strong>of</strong> appropriate cable burial machines.<br />
All <strong>of</strong> the alternative cable protection methodologies which were described<br />
in Section 3.8.6 could potentially be employed on <strong>of</strong>fshore wind farm subsea<br />
cables.<br />
3.9.1 CABLE BURIAL OPTIONS FOR OFFSHORE WIND FARMS<br />
Within Section 3.8, four separate types <strong>of</strong> cable burial machine were identified,<br />
namely:<br />
●<br />
●<br />
●<br />
●<br />
70<br />
Cable burial ploughs;<br />
Tracked cable burial machines;<br />
Free swimming ROVs with cable burial capability; <strong>and</strong><br />
Burial sleds.<br />
Table 3.14 provides a summary <strong>of</strong> each <strong>of</strong> the above in terms <strong>of</strong> their relevance<br />
<strong>and</strong> potential application for the burial <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>fshore wind farm subsea cables.<br />
Table 3.15 provides further guidance for each burial device (with the optional<br />
configurations <strong>of</strong> varying burial tools on such devices) on what performance<br />
each option is likely to achieve in various seabed sediments. It must be stressed<br />
that this qualitative approach is somewhat subjective as within each defined<br />
burial device category there will be varying performances linked to the power<br />
capability <strong>of</strong> any given device.