CABLE INSTALLATION FEATURE
DIVING EXPERTISE CRUCIAL FOR PROBLEM-FREE CABLE
INSTALLATION
Problem-solving and working around extreme weather are both qualities needed when considering cable installation for an offshore wind farm, according to a leading commercial diving company.
NORTHERN DIVERS Experts from Northern Divers say the tough, physical challenges of fixing cables to and from turbines in the sea, several miles off a coastline, are essential to plan for when designing a wind farm.
The Hull-based company, which specialises in underwater civil engineering and commercial diving, has a wealth of knowledge of this kind of cable installation, having worked on the Princess Amalia Wind Farm in the North Sea.
This was the second offshore wind farm in the sea’s Dutch sector and the world’s first to be located at such a distance from the coast – outside of the 12-mile limit.
John Sparrowe, Managing Director of Northern Divers, said: “One of the great skills we bring to a wind farm project is our ability to look at the early designs and interpret them, in a practical – straightforward – way.
“This involves taking the technical theory and working out how best to go about the cable installation, ensuring the developer gets much more than just a diving company, but rather a specialist company that can spot problems before they happen.
“Above all, having this outlook and expertise means the project is completed safely, quicker and in a more cost- effective way.”
PRINCESS AMALIA WIND FARM – SHORT CASE STUDY The construction of the Princess Amalia Wind Farm started in 2006 and the divers began their six-month project by installing cables to all of the turbines via a J-Tube arrangement.
Diving teams – often working in zero visibility – then moved on to the burial of cables between the turbines and the installation of main, export, cables to the Dutch coast.
Mr Sparrowe said: “The biggest obstacles of offshore cable installation are the weather and tides. You sometimes have only a short gap between tides and the work is always weather-permitting, so you need to be very focussed and productive when the right opportunity arises.”
Northern Divers was the main diving contractor for the Princess Amalia project – which has 60 turbines and is one of the world’s deepest offshore wind farms, constructed at a depth of 19-24m.
This selection is one of a number of occasions over the last 20 years that the diving company has worked with Van Oord, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the wind farm.
Northern Divers
www.northerndivers.co.uk
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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