Global Marine Systems Energy Ltd., (GME) the largest independent provider of subsea power cable installation, maintenance and related engineering services worldwide has landed the first export cable at the Gwynt y Mor Offshore Wind Farm.
The cable was landed by GME’s recently launched vessel, Cable Enterprise, and is the first of four export cables to be installed at the project site. Each of the export cables are between 18km and 22km in length linking the north coast of Wales to the offshore wind farm in Liverpool Bay.
Gwynt y Mor Offshore Wind Farm is one of the largest currently in construction in Europe and is being built by RWE npower renewables. The project is a shared investment between partners RWE Innogy, Stadtwerke Munchen GmbH, and Siemens AG. Once operational, Gwynt y Mor will have an installed capacity of 576M W. It will be capable of generating enough energy to meet the average annual energy needs of around 400,000 homes’21.
“This achievement marked a significant milestone of the project as the first cable was landed on the beach at Pensarn,” said RWE npower renewables’ Gwynt y Mor Project Director, Toby Edmonds.
“We are looking forward to working closely with Global Marine Energy in the coming weeks to complete the installation of these crucial cables.”
“The first shore end went as planned, always a good sign.” said Kevin O’Donnell, Director of Projects for GME. “Cable Enterprise is an important new vessel in our fleet. The vessel is designed specifically for export cable installation and the challenging environments they bring. We are happy to see her and the team get the project off to a strong start.”
Over the next few days Cable Enterprise will make its way along the planned burial route to the second end at the offshore sub station. Once the cable is fully installed it will return to Pensarn beach to begin installing the next export cable. Unlike traditional vessels, the Enterprise is designed to ground on the beach, allowing operations to be carried out to the high water mark, seamlessly continuing the installation where shore based vehicles finish.
In total, Global Marine Energy with Cable Enterprise will lay four 132kV export cables with built in fibre optics, from onshore to two offshore substations on the Gwynt y Mor wind farm.
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Offshore WIND staff, August 22, 2012; Image: globalmarinesystemsenergy