Protected performance for the world’s largest floating windfarm

OVERVIEW

Challenge

This floating wind turbine project is truly unique. The project, which is being headed up by The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan, will be the world’s largest floating wind farm once complete. Located 16 kilometres off the coast of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, it is being developed in wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami which hit Fukushima in March 2011.

Solution

The Fukushima Wind Farm project is a major milestone in the switch from nuclear to renewable for the region. The project, known as Fukushima FORWARD, is part of a bigger scheme to reconstruct the area. CRP Subsea (formerly Trelleborg Offshore UK) supplied the experimental phase one of this pioneering project with its high performance cable buoyancy and protection in 2013 and supplied additional high performance cable protection, for phase two of this prestigious project in 2014.

CRP Subsea (formerly Trelleborg Offshore UK) was awarded the contract to supply the Furukawa Electric Company with its high performance cable buoyancy and protection in 2013, supplying a significant number of DBMs (Distributed Buoyancy Modules), Uraduct®, Bend Stiffeners and Bend Restrictors for the experimental phase of this pioneering project.

In floating production scenarios, subsea electrical power cables are used to inter-connect wind turbines on offshore windfarms and also run between the substation (electrical hub of the windfarm) and the shore. CRP Subsea’s high performance DBMs are designed to secure, guide and protect these power cables from excessive movement and bending that could cause fatigue damage.

A pioneering project

Building on success

In the wake of a successful phase one supply, Furukawa Electric once again turned to CRP Subsea to supply a range of high performance cable protection, for phase two of this prestigious project.

In floating production environments, subsea electrical power cables are used to inter-connect floating structures on offshore windfarms and also run between the substation (electrical hub of the windfarm) and the shore. CRP Subsea’s high performance DBMs are designed to secure, guide and protect these power cables from excessive movement and bending that could cause fatigue damage.

CRP Subsea provided its DBMs, Bend Stiffeners with Dynamic Bend Stiffener connectors (DBSC), Uraduct® cable protection and bend restrictors to phase two of the project.

Bend Stiffener

Proving punctual performance

The initial project is a five year trial in which different floating structures are tested prior to the main windfarm being constructed, with three floating wind turbines and one floating sub-station being tested as part of the experiment. Following its completion in 2020, it is estimated there will be further floating structures. The initial supply from CRP Subsea is for cable buoyancy and protection for the first wind turbine.

This contract was just the latest for CRP Subsea within the growing Renewables sector, following on from previous contract wins such as the Statoil Hywind project off the coast of Norway and the Windfloat project off the coast of Portugal.

The second phase of this prestigious project depended on working to tight timelines. With the input of CRP Subsea’s specialist teams, all products were delivered exactly to schedule and in accordance with Furukawa Electric’s strict deadline.

“CRP Subsea is renowned for its market-leading solutions and systems for the offshore oil and gas industry, its extensive experience in developing custom-made solutions for each project meant it was the natural choice. “We awarded the contract to CRP Subsea as not only did it have an extremely strong track record in regards to its industry knowledge and manufacturing capabilities, its well established products are of exceptionally high quality and the team could deliver the final products to meet the project timescales.”
Furukawa Electric 2013

“Japan is very well suited for the offshore windfarm projects due to its steep coastal shelf and deep water, so it’s extremely encouraging to see that area is fully embracing floating windfarm technology. As a leader in the field, we are confident that Trelleborg is well positioned to take advantage of this rapidly expanding sector.”

John Deasey, Renewables Sales Manager at CRP Subsea (formerly Trelleborg Offshore UK)

'CRP Subsea is renowned for its market-leading solutions and systems for the offshore oil and gas industry...'