Global controls technology firm Proserv is to supply its holistic cable monitoring system (CMS) ECG to Equinor’s 30MW Hywind Scotland floating offshore wind farm (pictured).
Proserv will deliver its CMS to analyse the condition and integrity of export and inter-array cables across the wind farm, located off the coast of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire in north-east Scotland, utilising the fibre optic cores within the cables.
The demonstration, focused on ECG’s data analytics abilities, is scheduled to extend until April 2024 with installation and commissioning set to take place in Q3 of this year.
ECG represents a step change in traditional monitoring methods, offering comprehensive visibility across cable assets as an integrated, scalable and multi-faceted single package, Proserv said.
The technology has been supported from its consortium partners Synaptec, a power system monitoring expert, and BPP Cable Solutions, specialists in subsea power cable engineering and management.
The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC) has also given its support to the group during the development of the solution, Proserv said.
The CMS employs distributed temperature sensing (DTS) and distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) and engages Synaptec’s distributed electromechanical sensors (DES), via its passive electrical and mechanical sensor systems.
The hardware will be complemented by the intuitive human-machine interface, utilising Proserv’s TIACS software suite, the company added.
Proserv’s ECG can monitor the condition and performance of cable terminations, well-known for being a serious failure point, according to the company.
During ECG’s demonstration on Hywind Scotland, BPP Cable Solutions will provide advanced real-time data processing and predictive analytics modelling.
Specialist predictive data analysis tools will be combined with known cable power transmission performance physics to monitor cable arrays continuously and autonomously.
Proserv business development director for renewables Paul Cook said: “We are most grateful to Equinor for enabling us to supply our ECG cable monitoring solution to the Hywind Scotland wind farm and to display the potential and power of this technology, including its data analytics capabilities.
“Owners and operators urgently need a cohesive O&M strategy around their cable assets and with its scrutiny of terminations, alongside its unique predictive insights, ECG offers unrivalled visibility of this key part of an offshore wind farm’s infrastructure.
“Equally, as floating wind scales up rapidly, this arrangement on Hywind Scotland represents perfect timing for us to show what ECG can do.”
Earlier this year, it was announced that Proserv had secured a contract for ECG to be implemented on the bottom-fixed Dogger Bank Wind Farm phases A and B to monitor the condition and integrity of the asset’s inter-array cables, representing the technology’s first commercial sale.