First Subsea Guards Kincardine Cables

First Subsea has secured a contract with Spanish developer and construction company Cobra Group to provide cable protection systems (CPS) for Kincardine offshore wind farm.

The company will supply eleven cable protection systems to the 50 MW floating offshore wind farm project 15 kilometers south of Aberdeen.

The CPS for floating offshore wind foundations was developed by First Subsea using its knowledge and expertise gained from connection systems previously used on O&G flexible flowlines and umbilicals.

The system combines a mechanical diver-less subsea connector and polyurethane bend stiffener that is connected to the floater during the pull in of the electrical power cable.

During operation lifespan of wind farm the CPS stiffens the cable at the point of entry and protects the cable from the effect of bending moments caused by the dynamic conditions offshore. The bend stiffener improves the fatigue life of the cable in nearshore areas which traditionally sees higher frequency loading than floating facilities further offshore, First Subsea explained.