The Carbon Trust-led Floating Wind Joint Industry Partnership has begun two new studies to investigate critical issues for large scale floating wind farms.

Commissioned by the Scottish Government and twelve industry partners – EnBW, ENGIE, Eolfi, E.ON, Iberdrola, innogy, Kyuden Mirai, Ørsted, Shell, Statoil, Vattenfall, and Wpd Offshore – the partnership will  supporting the development of high voltage dynamic cables and outlining monitoring and inspection requirements for commercial floating wind power projects.

BPP Cables will lead the study on dynamic export cables, which has been identified as a potential bottleneck for commercial deployments. While lower voltage dynamic inter-array cables (22-66kV) are readily available, there is a  gap in the market for suitable high voltage dynamic cables (130-250kV) to enable efficient transmission of power back to shore. As part of the study, the Carbon Trust intends to launch a competition to support cable manufacturers to develop suitable designs.

In parallel, Oceaneering will deliver a study to investigate monitoring and inspection requirements for the large number of components in floating wind farms – including hulls, mooring lines, anchors, and cabling.

The partnership has already launched projects on heavy lift offshore operations and the impact of larger turbines on floating wind structures.