NKT has launched a new monitoring solution to safeguard on- and offshore power cables.
The integrated cable monitoring platform is designed to support the continuous operation of cables by identifying and mitigating potential threats, including fishing accidents and deliberate damage.
The platform integrates multiple sensors and combines technologies to provide a comprehensive overview of power cable conditions, aiming to make power cable grids more reliable.
It combines data from various sensors and technologies, such as vessel location, acoustic sensing around the cable, depth of burial of the cable under the seabed, and conductor temperature.
By integrating and analysing this data together, the platform can identify suspicious activities, such as vessels passing slowly, fishing equipment or anchors being pulled near the cable, and other risks that could lead to cable damage.
When one or more parameters exceed predefined thresholds, the platform triggers an alert helping those monitoring the cable to take potential remediation actions and strengthen the grid’s resilience.
Director of cable monitoring solutions, service and installation at NKT Stefan Persson said: “Our new cable monitoring platform represents a significant advancement in ensuring the reliability and safety of power cables.
“By integrating multiple sensors into a single platform, we can provide situational awareness and proactive monitoring, which is crucial for maintaining up-time and preventing damage.”
If a failure of critical infrastructure occurs, knowledge about the cause can be of great importance for the power cable owner as well as public authorities, Persson added.
“By gathering alarm data, including vessel movements and acoustic data, the system can support the root cause analysis of the damage,” he said.
“In the short run, it can pinpoint potential responsible parties, and in the long run, it can help improve situational awareness around the cable.”
The platform includes features that provide cable owners with detailed information about how the cable is performing as well as documentation, information from marine survey inspections, current stockpiling status of spare parts, and notifications for replacing parts nearing expiry.
“Our solution enhances the ability to monitor and safeguard power cables but also helps cable owners prepare for and mitigate potential failures,” Persson added. “Reducing outage times for a cable includes readiness in case a critical situation occurs.
“On a practical level, it can be crucial that the cable owner has access to relevant spare parts if a cable is damaged.”
The system combines and creates alerts based on multiple data points, including distributed acoustic sensing, distributed temperature sensing, automatic identification system, and depth of burial.
Designed for both on- and offshore cables with fibre-optics, the platform leverages the fibre-optic cable within the power cable as well as vessel positioning technology to gather and analyse data.