Lessons Learned - Offshore Cable Installation (PDFDrive)

Lessons Learned:
Offshore Cable Installation
September 2010
Andy Readyhough
Global Marine Energy
globalmarine-energy.com
Proprietary and Confidential. ©2010. All Rights Reserved.
Cable Installation has caused
a lot of trouble in Europe
Will this be avoided in North America?

Cable installation is a small part of project cost
Average Offshore Wind Turbine Installation Costs - Split
Turbines & Sub Structures 73%

Cable 10%
Cable Installation 7%
Grid Connection 10%
100%
Source: Global Marine Systems
Cable installation is a small part of project cost
…but provides a surprisingly large part of project problems

“I was told by one major developer that 80% of their
problems in offshore installation, is the cables.
Because it's just very difficult to do.”
It is widely recognised in the industry that

difficulties have been encountered with the
export cables for a number of offshore wind farm
sites. Although some of these problems that have
occurred may be attributed to the inherent
uncertainties of marine operations, some can be
traced back to the planning stage and a lack of
understanding of key issues.
Source: A Risk Based Approach to
Cable Installation for Offshore Wind
Farms: SE Tech
Cable installation issues have resulted in significant losses
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©2010 Global Marine Energy, Inc. 5

Global Marine Systems: Subsea Power Cable Installation Specialists
Beatrice
StatoilHydro Gjoa
Horns Rev
Horns Rev 2
Alpha Ventus
Nord Eon 1
Sherringham Shoal  Our area of expertise is in project design,

installation, burial and maintenance of inter-
field cables, export cables and inter-connectors.
BritNed
London Array  At the forefront of the alternative energy
Gunfleet Sands market for several years, specifically offshore
Thornton Bank wind
Kentish Flats
 Experience at many of the world’s largest
offshore projects
6
In short, we handle cable: our vessels & equipment are somewhat different
than what you normally see in offshore wind photos
7
Why Does this happen? Consider this Idyllic scene
A windfarm can be
over 25 square miles
or larger...
What has the survey
told me about all
of that real estate?
Don’t let 7% of your project derail the other 93%…
These days, due to Largely Preventable problems:

- Most projects experience some serious problems with their
cable installation
- Bankruptcy for cable installers is not at all unusual
- Much of our business comes through Remedial work…
While that may be personally Good for us in the

short-term, it is Bad for the industry long-term
AVOID allowing cable installation to

becoming a Project bottleneck
Together lets learn from experience
C.S. Great Eastern:1866
Offshore wind may be relatively new, but cable has been installed
under the water for well over 150 years
The Industry in Europe is over a decade old,

with all of the lumps to prove it - they have experience
Many of the processes and project management issues are

similar in both Telecommunications & Offshore Power
Cable tank in C.S. Great Eastern

10
Source: Smithsonian Institution Libraries
What are some lessons we
can learn from Europe?

Lesson: Vessel Selection is a big deal
NOT about installing one cable and then replication – a successful plan will
accommodate all of the (100 or so cables) holistically
 Common issues/costs to consider re: cable installation vessel on an

offshore wind project
 Availability
 Weather window
 Speed of installation
 Accommodation (60 people)
 Barge management system
 Anchor handlers
 Anchor patterns – innovative to manouver around foundations to
keep time to a minimum
 Transfer vessels and planning
 Insurance
 Contractor interface (foundation, j-tube design – vessel
coordination)
 Communications (v-sat or similar to transmit large amounts of data
on a daily basis)
 Overall project logistics
 Turntable
 Manning strategy
Lesson: Cable Planning areas requiring detail
Know Areas
 Route Survey
 Route Planning
 Engineering Detail Turbine
 Permitting
 Engineering at Substation
 Cable Selection
 Vessel Scheduling
 Engineering at Power Grid
 Vessel Selection
 Engineering at Interconnect
Unique to the Great Lakes

 Ice scour anticipated impacts
 Hazardous waste buried in
Sediment
 GL Weather window
13
Lesson: Discovering cable problems on site is expensive, try to avoid it
Example:
Is there enough space near
the J tube to
accommodate the cable Example Issue:
necessary?
2D v. 3D J-Tube
Is there enough cable being cable installation modeling
supplied as part of the
customer order?
What about calculating

cable pull-in tensions?
How much headroom is

there and what possible
conflicts are there with the
equipment needed to pull
in?
Preferred Method: 3D cable installation modeling
15
Use the virtual world to minimize cable mistakes in the real world
Lesson: Once Installation begins, be flexible & prepared for the unexpected
A good installation project team will have planned for the

following:
 Survey Issues
 Weather delays
 Equipment issues
 Cable issues
 Cable burial
 Delays by preceding
suppliers
 Site inspection
 Approval processes
 Permitting issues
17
Lesson: Once operational what is the Maintenance Plan?
Fishing
Anchors In the telecommunications industry
Dredgers a well thought out subsea cable
maintenance plan is a core element
to their business model
In Oil & Gas Life of Field (Riser

Monitoring) is a major priority
Maintenance will make the

difference between maintaining
output or prolonged interruptions
and downtime.
18
Lesson: Maintenance: What is the plan?
Most offshore wind farms are too new to have proven maintenance models in place
Maintenance is costly, some type of group arrangement with groups of wind farms
in a region should be considered
 Cable Monitoring & Integrity
 Spare Cable Availability
 Spare Joint Availability
 Cable Re-laying
 Jointing/Splicing Expertise
 Vessel Availability
 Personnel Transport
19
Lesson:
Predator Offshore
ROV Wind is Too Expensive!
We must collectively look for ways to improve installation quality & drive down costs
All of our projects & business are interdependent
As we learn to work together we will find plenty of areas where we can improve
overall efficiencies and control costs
20
Summary
Keep cable installation from becoming a bottleneck on your project

Lets learn what we can from the European experience, for example…
• Selecting the correct installation vessel is a big deal
• Discovering cable problems on site is expensive, try to avoid it
• Once Installation begins, be flexible and prepared for the unexpected
• Once operational what is the maintenance plan?
• We must collectively look for ways to improve installation quality
& drive down overall industry costs
QUESTIONS?
21
…we have heard a lot about Europe… what about Asia?
September 2010: SOUTH KOREA

South Korea will soon launch a 9 trillion won (US$7.8 billion) project to build the
country's largest offshore wind power complex, government officials said Sunday.
August 2010: CHINA

China is expected to lead the global wind power market in the coming 5 years, driven
by government appetite for renewable energy. Chinese government commitment to
derive 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020 will result in the required thrust
towards the future growth of wind power market.
May 2010: JAPAN

The government targets the installation by 2020 of more than 2000 wind turbines
offshore with combined capacity of at least 10GW.
Odd as it sounds… is there an opportunity to think bigger?
Maybe Network Design is the real issue at hand…

Isn’t what we are REALLY building? A FREE FUEL energy network?
… If the Great Lakes Region was able to build an inter-connected power grid through the lakes
…If the East Coast kept moving towards Regional solutions
The result would be the ability to supply a lot of electricity with No-Variable Fuel cost
- wouldn’t that be:
- A major, regional, economic growth engine
- An Industry in itself
- A very large threat to the status-quo?
Source: Mainstream Source: NASA Source: NOAA

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Lessons Learned:

Offshore Cable Installation

Will this be avoided in North America?

Proprietary and Confidential. ©2010. All Rights Reserved.

Average Offshore Wind Turbine Installation Costs - Split

Turbines & Sub Structures 73%

…but provides a surprisingly large part of project problems

It is widely recognised in the industry that

©2010 Global Marine Energy, Inc. 5

Sherringham Shoal  Our area of expertise is in project design,

These days, due to Largely Preventable problems:

While that may be personally Good for us in the

AVOID allowing cable installation to

The Industry in Europe is over a decade old,

Many of the processes and project management issues are

Cable tank in C.S. Great Eastern

Proprietary and Confidential. ©2010. All Rights Reserved.

 Common issues/costs to consider re: cable installation vessel on an

Unique to the Great Lakes

What about calculating

How much headroom is

A good installation project team will have planned for the

In Oil & Gas Life of Field (Riser

Maintenance will make the

Keep cable installation from becoming a bottleneck on your project

September 2010: SOUTH KOREA

August 2010: CHINA

May 2010: JAPAN

Maybe Network Design is the real issue at hand…

Source: Mainstream Source: NASA Source: NOAA

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