Offshore staff
ABERDEEN, UK — Osbit has installed a cable fatigue test rig at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult’s (ORE Catapult) new National Floating Wind Innovation Centre.
The facility, designed to support commercialization of floating offshore wind projects, is a collaboration between ORE Catapult and various industrial and academic partners. It will provide testing facilities for R&D and certification of new technology.
Other goals include creating opportunities for the UK supply chain and supporting innovations in manufacturing, installation, and operations and maintenance.
Osbit’s 60-metric-ton cable fatigue test rig is designed for dynamic fatigue testing of subsea cables and bend stiffeners connected to offshore floating wind structures. It offers a range of test capability and configurability allowing for adjustment of cable diameters and lengths, tensions and bend radii. The system is also said to be optimized for tension stability and simplified drive mechanisms.
Osbit assembled the test rig at its site at Port of Blyth facility in northeast England prior to transportation and installation at the new center in Aberdeen.
It is the second test rig Osbit has supplied to ORE Catapult following a rig to verify the performance and reliability of floating and tidal cables, delivered to ORE Catapult’s Blyth location in 2018.
Andrew Macdonald, director of Offshore Wind Development and Operations at ORE Catapult, said, “Dynamic cables are one vital element of the technology jigsaw involved with floating wind, and rectifying problems with offshore cables is a costly and time-consuming business. So, it’s vital that we understand and prevent potential cable failures as part of the technology development process.”
03.19.2024
