Early and reliable cable routing
Our cable routing optimisation service is an iterative process that considers soil conditions, unexploded ordnance, cable-lay curvature and other constraints to identify an optimal route that reduces exposure to risks and installation constraints, while minimising the route length and capital expenditure for your project. Using comprehensive Geo-data expertise for route appraisal, starting at the earliest stage of corridor selection through to detailed route engineering, we provide the insights you need to ensure early and reliable cable routing.
Cable burial and seabed mobility studies
Our Geo-data provides fine-tuned predictive models for the performance of ploughs, jetting and cutting systems. These models, combined with geological, geophysical and geotechnical expertise, enable us to provide reliable burial predictions for specific or generic cable trenching units. Our sediment mobility modelling and data acquisition define the morphological baselines over the project life and the risks of cable exposure or scouring due to seabed mobility. This helps prevent incidents that require repair, mitigation or increasing cable temperatures that can affect cable performance.
Integrated onshore and offshore capabilities
Our market-leading technologies acquire geotechnical, geophysical and airborne lidar data to deliver integrated datasets in all water depths, the nearshore transition zone and on land for a comprehensive model from the offshore wind farm site to landfall. This integration ensures optimisation of project schedules, assurance of technical quality, avoids duplication of effort, and provides a comprehensive analysis for time and cost-efficient route engineering.
Characterising thermal conductivity of soils
An accurate understanding of thermal conductivity can reduce conservatism in design and lowers the risk of power cables being exposed to higher temperatures, leading to mitigations or reduced performance. Our experts have pioneered methods for characterising thermal conductivity in situ and our laboratories provide detailed thermal characterisation of the soil.
Offshore wind export and array cables
Subsea power cables are fundamental to connect the generated power offshore to onshore. They are critical assets in a high-risk environment, requiring a detailed understanding of the metocean, geological and ground conditions from the wind farm to landfall.
Grid infrastructure feasibility
A detailed desktop study is key to the feasibility and development of the offshore wind farm’s connection to the onshore grid. To acquire, assess and integrate all site-specific Geo-data, it is essential to determine suitability, risks and constraints of route corridors and landfalls. This enables informed decision-making throughout the complete route selection and design process. From the earliest stages of the planning and design process, we carry out site-specific desktop studies and utilise an established ground risk assessment process where the risk can be logged at the earliest stage to determine optimal route corridors and potential landfalls for your project.
Detailed design
Insights on soil properties are essential for cable route and design. Poor characterisation of soil can lead to potential operational restrictions for the power cable. These risks are typically mitigated through conservatism in cable design or requirements for mitigation or repair of installed cables. We focus Geo-data acquisition on site-specific ground risks and deliver the required input for the engineering assessments. Once suitable route corridors have been identified, detailed engineering assessments determine cost-effective routes where cable length, seabed intervention, installation cost and cable risks over the project life cycle are minimised.
Installation support
Damage to the cable during installation is a well-known risk. Approximately 80 % of insurance claims in offshore wind are related to cable failures with many failures occurring during installation. The vulnerability of power cables requires a comprehensive burial assessment. Evaluating burial tool suitability and expected burial performance is key to identify the most economical way to install without damaging the power cable, equipment or surrounding environment. Our cable burial models, and Geo-data and engineering expertise, allow our experts to provide reliable burial predictions for specific or generic cable trenching units.
Interconnector cables
Interconnector cables play a crucial role in the energy exchange between countries and the integration of energy into their electricity networks. Reliability of the cables and an efficient route are fundamental and require a complete understanding of the metocean, geological and ground conditions from subsea to the landfall. We provide tailored solutions to engineer the optimal route and support the safe installation of interconnector cables.
We deliver solutions to design cable routes faster with lower CAPEX, while derisking the installation and operation of the subsea power cables.
- Optimised cable routing – Comprehensive risk and constraints analysis for cost-efficient, optimised route engineering improves power cable reliability
- Assurance of project milestones - Early insights and real-time results enable informed decision-making and on-time project delivery
- Reduce installation risk - Optimising the burial depth and installation methodology using our predictive models minimises installation risk