The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, in partnership with the North East Combined Authority, is investing £2.1 million in a new offshore wind cable testing rig at its facilities in Blyth in North East England.
Funded by the North East Combined Authority, the investment will allow ORE Catapult to build a new high voltage (HV) electrical test facility at its Blyth site, and install bespoke equipment to carry out pre-qualification testing on HV cable systems.
According to ORE Catapult, the testing system will apply extremely high voltages and currents to cables, creating stresses above operational levels in a real-world environment, and will allow the cable to be installed in different representative conditions, including buried, ducted and submerged in salt water, if required, to test its capabilities.
The development is expected to speed up nationwide production, shorten time to market for new technology and deliver improved cable system reliability, as there are currently no facilities capable of providing this service within the UK.
“This development forms the next step of our plan to ensure ORE Catapult’s Blyth facility remains at the cutting edge of testing – enabling the rapid growth and expansion of the offshore wind technology we need to see in the coming years,” said Alex Neumann , ORE Catapult’s Chief Engineer in HV Electrical.
“By investing in this new facility and ensuring it links up with the high voltage, mechanical and materials test laboratories we already operate, we can help cable system designers and manufacturers develop products faster. This will also galvanise local and national supply chain companies to grasp the economic prize on offer within the UK offshore wind cable technology market.”
ORE Catapult will work with organizations within the cable manufacturing sector across the UK and worldwide, with JDR Systems being the first to sign up to use the facility.
The facility is scheduled to open at the end of 2026.