Innovative Fault Location and Repair of Submarine Power Cables on the Seabed

摘要

A breakthrough has recently been made in the repair of subsea power cables which allows power cables to be repaired in-situ on the seabed. Normally subsea cable repairs are executed by cutting the cable on the sea floor and raising the cable ends up to a vessel on the surface where they are joined to a new section of cable. The in-situ repair solution means that there is now a viable lower cost alternative for subsea cable repairs available to the industry. The innovative repair solution could pave the way for XLPE and EPR cables to be repaired subsea in the future and open up an alternative low cost subsea repair solution for utility, wind park and transmission asset owners. The duration and costs of the Moyle repair campaign using the in-situ seabed repair method was approximately 50% of a comparable repair operation in 2011 where the cables were repaired on a vessel and lowered down to the seabed. Similarly the cost of the Aran Islands repair campaign using the in-situ seabed repair method was approximately 50% of a comparable conventional method where the cable would be repaired on a vessel and lowered down to the seabed. This paper describes the development steps, challenges and application of this repair technique on two recent projects in Ireland.