Scottish Power Renewables has awarded subsea engineering company Jee a contract to carry out an array cable optimisation study for the 714MW East Anglia 1 offshore wind farm off the UK east coast.
Jee said its aim is to optimise the wind farm array cable layout, by focusing on minimising Capex and Opex.
The study will aim to minimise potential loss of revenue should one cable fail, by investigating the effect of different route configurations, it said.
Cable interaction with the seabed will also be assessed because of the presence of sandwaves, while the cost-benefits of adding cable redundancy to the system to minimise downtime will also be investigated.
Jee will also determine the size of cable needed for the various sections of the route.
Jee senior engineer Martyn Campbell said: “Recent seabed surveys have indicated the presence of wrecks, and therefore potential war graves, and areas of metallic debris, thought to be potentially unexploded ordinance.
“When planning the route we will need to take care in avoiding these obstacles and will also need to avoid disturbing the protected natural reefs of Sabellaria – a marine worm.”
Image: Scottish Power Renewables
