Discussion of electrical and thermal aspects of offshore wind farms’ power cables reliability

TLDR

Offshore wind farms are expanding rapidly, making submarine power cables—critical for transmitting electricity from turbines to land—vulnerable to costly failures that demand careful design, installation, and operation. The paper aims to reduce failure risks and improve supply reliability of offshore power cables. It reviews international experience and references to identify design, transportation, installation, and operational strategies that mitigate cable failures. Historical data reveal that power cables are the main cause of offshore plant power supply failures.

Abstract

The increasing demand for renewable energy worldwide has contributed to a substantial increase of offshore wind farms in recent years. For this type of generation, submarine power cables are of great importance as they transmit power between the turbines and the offshore substation to the land connection. Last 20 years of experience shows that the power cables are the largest contributor to the failures of power supply from the offshore plants. Additionally, the repairs of such a critical infrastructure are extremely challenging and costly. Therefore, several aspects of the design, transportation, installation and operation of power cables at offshore wind farms require special attention. Based on international experience gathered from various projects over the last few years as well as international references, this paper discusses offshore power cables from the perspective of reducing the risks of failure and increasing supply reliability.