New UK Project Aims to Improve Mooring Lines and Dynamic Cables on Floating Offshore Wind Farms

A new project has been launched in the UK to improve the effectiveness of mooring lines and dynamic cables on floating offshore wind farms. Historically, mooring repair costs for oil production assets have exceeded GBP 400 million (approximately $542 million; €461 million) for a single incident, while cable failures have accounted for between 70% and 80% of UK offshore wind insurance claims, according to the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, which commissioned the new project.

The Mooring Line and Dynamic Cable Monitoring and Replacement Methodologies project will be delivered by ORE Catapult’s Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence, Apollo Engineering, and DOF Subsea UK.

ORE Catapult says that the floating wind industry needs a stronger understanding of component failure modes, the time and cost of repairs, and their impact on operational expenses, to successfully transition to commercialization.

“Operating and maintaining a floating offshore wind farm creates challenges not previously faced in fixed offshore wind, including the monitoring and replacement of mooring lines and dynamic cables“, said Sean Snee, Floating Offshore Wind Team Leader at ORE Catapult.

“More data is required to accurately assess key component failures and what leads to them. In identifying preventative measures and innovative technologies, the learnings from this project could reduce the overall cost of floating offshore wind mooring line and dynamic cable repairs and replacement across the UK and internationally.”

ORE Catapult launched the Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence in 2019, with the aim of developing an internationally recognized centre of excellence that will work to reduce the cost of energy from floating wind, accelerate the build-out of floating wind farms, create opportunities for the UK supply chain, and drive innovations in manufacturing, installation, and operations and maintenance.