Design and execution of research and development

Tender description

The cost of energy from offshore wind is reported to have dropped between 2011 and 2014 from 136 GBP/MWh to 121 GBP/MWh. Further cost reductions are required in order to meet the UK's cost of energy target for offshore wind of 100 GBP/MWh by 2020. 1 potential way to reduce costs is to reduce the number of sub-sea cable failures. Based on data obtained from 28 UK offshore wind insurance losses between 2002 and 2015 with a total value of 212 700 000 GBP, 68 % of the losses were cable faults which occurred predominately during the construction phase. Condition monitoring techniques which can be used during the installation process have the potential to reduce instances of such cable faults, if they can be used to monitor the cable condition and detect potential issues before they develop into failures. The challenge is to develop a cost effective, easy to connect and operate, robust and reliable system which can be used to monitor the condition of sub-sea cables throughout the cable installation phase. The Carbon Trust's Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) has launched the OWA Cable Condition Assessment Competition to find and fund the development of innovative solutions to a specific challenge currently facing the offshore wind farm industry: how to monitor the condition of sub-sea cables to ensure that they are not damaged during the load out and installation process. A technology gap currently exists in the offshore wind sector and this competition aims to address it by identifying and supporting the development of novel condition monitoring systems.