2024-03-16 21:58:00
The Leonardo da Vinci from the shipowner Prysmian. Credit: DR
Talks between XLCC and Xlinks are ongoing and a final agreement has not yet been finalized as the company waits to see if Xlinks will succeed in securing a contract under the UK’s Contract for Difference (CfD) program
Xlinks recently started commissioning the world’s largest cable laying vessel for the Morocco-UK power link project which is expected to have a total capacity of 11.5 GW, with an export capacity of 3.6 GW for more than 19 hours per day on average.
The project aims to connect a co-located solar and wind farm with a 5GW/22.5GWh on-site battery storage facility in the Guelmim-Oued Noun area of Alverdiscott, near the North Devon coast, in England, via four 3,800 km high voltage direct current (HVDC) submarine cables.
“We will manufacture cables in 20km sections called ‘factory lengths’, which will be joined into 160km sections called ‘delivery lengths’, before being loaded onto the cable laying vessel. Each cable weighs 70 kg per meter”, explains Alan Mathers, director of commercial operations at XLCC to the specialized media Current±.
The reason each section is so long, Mathers continues, is to produce fewer joints – the weakest part of the infrastructure – and to create a more robust cable.
Xlinks is expected to take six months to install 14km of cable from the sea to the Devon substation. However, the XLCC-designed vessel can lay 20 km of cable in the water every day, Mathers says.
According to Blackridge Research & Consulting, the Leonardo da Vinci vessel, owned by the Prysmian Group, is considered one of the largest cable laying vessels on the market today.
Made up of two rotating platforms of 7,000 and 10,000 tonnes respectively, the Leonardo da Vinci ship is considered to be “the largest carousel capacity on the market”. XLCC’s vessel, Mathers reveals, was designed to be fitted with two carousels capable of holding up to 13,000 tonnes each.
The vessel can also be used for a range of projects, including long distance interconnection projects, such as that of Xlinks, cable export for offshore wind farms and grid or grid reinforcement projects.
According to Alex Gorrie, project manager, XLCC has “opted for a solution using linear cable tensioners which electronically grip the cable on the vessel during cable deployment operations.”
A remotely operated vehicle will sit at the bottom of the seabed and use its camera to ensure the cable is laid safely and record the exact coordinates of where the cables are placed to help identify where to attach the new cable .
The cables will be laid 160 km at a time, grouped in a pair configuration including a fiber optic cable which will remain under the sea to monitor the condition of the cable using temperature and acoustic sensors. This will alert XLCC to the exact location of any problems in the cable.
There are three to four methods for burying a cable once laid on the seabed. According to Gorrie, the most likely process to be used for the Xlinks project would be to pre-slice the seabed, lay the cable and then bury it.
Since discussions with Xlinks began, Mathers revealed that the required cable length has increased from 3,800 km to just over 3,900 km due to the need to navigate seabed canyons along the cable’s route.
Talks between XLCC and Xlinks are ongoing and a final agreement has not yet been finalized as the company waits to see if Xlinks will succeed in securing a contract under the UK’s Contract for Difference (CfD) programme. Xlinks has made known its intention to bid under the UK’s CfD scheme, making the project a revenue stream rather than a cost by providing energy at £48/MWh.
If the partnership is confirmed, Gorrie estimates that the process from contract signing to delivery of the vessel to XLCC’s facility in Hunterston, Scotland, will take approximately 27 to 38 months.
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