Jee Evaluates Array Cable Risk in UK

Jee Ltd, a subsea cable specialist engineering company, has completed a project for a wind farm operator to assess the risks to the array cables within a UK offshore wind farm.

With concerns about the integrity of cables on the wind farm, the operator awarded Jee a contract in March 2016 to compile a risk framework to be used as a basis for a risk based inspection (RBI) plan.

As part of the study, Jee determined and ranked the risks to the array cables and provided guidance on the acceptability of each risk. Cable spans along the seabed and spans at the monopile bases due to scour were a particular area of concern. To address this, Jee provided guidance on the maximum allowable free span length for each cable type using OrcaFlex analysis. Other risks considered were cable exposure, vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) and fishing interaction. To conclude, Jee made recommendations for mitigation and management of the risks and provided their client with suggestions for further study.

The client project manager commented: “It was enjoyable to work with a company possessing both technical excellence and refined project management skills.”

Jim Buston, Business Development Manager at Jee, said: “We are very happy to have completed another cable project for this client. Our extensive experience of the challenges associated with subsea cables helped our client understand the most likely risks to their cables and avoided unnecessary remediation and additional survey expenditure.”

Jee has previously conducted numerous projects analysing wind farm cable spans, installation, protection and fatigue. Jee also recently completed a project for Scottish Enterprise to develop cable solutions for locating, securing, protecting and recovering
electrical array cables for  tidal energy installations.

Mr Buston continued: “We are seeing an increase in the number of clients coming to us for support on their cable operations, correlating with the growth of the offshore wind industry. We are pleased to offer our technical support services to operators, and help them with their complex cable studies across the whole life span of their assets.”

Jee’s renewables expertise includes route planning, cable protection design (CPS), HDD/landfall engineering, on-bottom stability, cable installation analysis, integrity management and decommissioning plans.