Supporting cable OEMs and wind farm developers with offshore cable design review and risk mitigation

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The rapid shift to a decarbonized global energy system poses complex challenges to the energy industry while also creating opportunities for the sector.

Offshore wind is dramatically changing the energy landscape, providing the need for high-voltage, subsea power transmission systems. As offshore wind investments are still in its relatively early stages, our dynamic power cables assurance service offering is of particular relevance to offshore wind developers and subsea cable OEMs. It will ensure that in the coming years of intense renewables build-up, new offshore wind farms will be fitted with safe, reliable and cost-effective electrical connections.

DNV’s dynamic power cables assurance service involves design review, modelling and testing cable loads and mechanical stress in highly-dynamic water conditions and the assessment of a cable’s mechanical properties, strength and fatigue life.

Our services include:

• Geotechnics: risk-based optimization of cable protection based on marine traffic and cable protection and burial (depth) assessments
• Installation: planning and analysis of installation operations for subsea cables and umbilicals, standardized procedures for the planning and design of lay operations; risk analysis for installations including weather limitations and other control parameters
• Materials technology and laboratory testing: corrosion protection, mechanical/structural integrity testing and failure investigation
• Structural design:
  • Dynamic analysis of the combined effect of loads from wind, waves, mooring and the motion of wind turbines on suspended (dynamic) power cables to mitigate wear, deformation and degradation of physical properties; hydrodynamics simulations of the floater coupled with subsea lines from shallow to ultra-deep waters
  • Comprehensive mechanical testing and analysis/cross-section analysis of mechanical properties such as bend stiffness, torque balance, cable geometry, material properties, tension, curvature, internal/external pressure (using DNV’s Helica software), load capacities such as the maximum allowable tension and fatigue damage
• Forensics: rapid-response investigation into power failures and root cause analysis of third-party cabling

For developers
The technical assurance provided by DNV in the early phase of a project will ensure that the design and engineering of the power cables for the offshore energy system are technically sound and any critical issues are identified early which minimizes cost and limits any required changes to the project.

When the technical assurance services are completed, it will enhance a developer’s confidence to proceed to the next phase of the project and will ensure safe, reliable and cost-effective electrical connections for floating offshore wind farms.

For cable OEMs
When customized power cables are designed based on project specifications, DNV’s technical reviews will increase the OEM manufacturer’s confidence to move forward from the design to the manufacturing phase.  The required 3rd party design reviews by DNV will also improve project safety and reliability.

For new offshore power cables that will be designed and manufactured, best practices and novel solutions will be applied. But the cable performance will be thoroughly assessed first through comprehensive mechanical testing and analysis.