project updates

EDITION NO.
164
project
updates
February 2016
The Global Information Newsletter for the Whole Submarine Cable Industry
Editorial
Welcome to the February 2016 issue
of SubCableNews. – Issue No. 164
The repair of the Basslink Interconnector, connecting Australia to Tasmania is causing delays in repairs
of the PPC-1 cable system, a vital fibre optic submarine cable
link from Australia to Guam.
A maintenance agreement is in place for the power cable
as well as for the fibre optic link, using the same resources/
vessels. The repair of the Interconnector is foreseen to be completed by mid of March, leaving the PPC-1 out of service for
over a month.
We have to ask the question, is it wise to share resources between power cables and fibre optic cables for operation and
maintenance? With the increasing numbers of power cables
being installed worldwide, there might be a need to increase
and distribute the resources accordingly.
As usual, you will find the latest news about Offshore Wind
Farms, Interconnectors, submarine telecom and tidal systems
in this issue.
Enjoy reading the Newsletter.
The Editor
Eckhard Bruckschen
HUGO Repeaters loading in Brest, France
Page 1
Table of Contents
Project Update Europe
Norway: Nexans to provide submarine cables for Lofotkraft grid strengthening project
UK - Norway: Steel River Consultants to Work on NSN Link
Sweden: ABB retraces its pioneering technology roots to upgrade world’s first HVDC link
Sweden: Sotenäs Wave Energy Plant Delivers Power to Nordic Grid
Lithuania - Sweden: NordBalt Enters Testing Phase
Denmark: Vattenfall Looking for ROV, UXO Survey Services
Denmark: Second Offshore Wind Farm Decommissioning on the Way
Denmark: Danish association wins 28-MW offshore wind demo project
Finland: Finland to Build 40 MW Offshore Wind Farm
Denmark - Germany: Danish Minister Approves Baltic Sea Interconnection to Germany
Germany: SeaVex Refurbishment wins Estuary Power Cable burial
Germany: Seabed Preparation Starts for Veja Mate OWF
Germany: Heerema to Build and Install BorWin3 Jacket
Germany: Trianel Windpark Borkum Phase II Offers Cabling Job
Germany: Dalby’s ASV Pioneer Grabs New Job in Germany
Germany: Next Geosolutions Starts CWA Project Cable Route Survey
Germany: Riffgat OWF Out of Action until End of April
Germany: EnBW to Help Out Iberdrola with Wikinger
Germany: E.ON Switches Amrumbank West On, Says Time for Offshore Wind Is Now
Germany: Sandbank Project on Time despite Bad Weather
Germany: DONG Energy to Develop another OWF Project in Germany
Germany: Nordergründe offshore windfarm secures another investor
Germany: TenneT TSO GmbH Looking For AC Subsea Cable Supplier
The Netherlands: New Offshore Grid Bill on the Way to Dutch Parliament
The Netherlands - Denmark: TenneT concludes contracts with Prysmian and Siemens
for construction of ‘green’ subsea cable between Netherlands and Denmark
The Netherlands - Denmark: Siemens Receives €170M COBRAcable Order
The Netherlands - Denmark: Contract worth around € 250 M for a submarine
power cable link between the Netherlands and Denmark
France: DCNS Deploys First Paimpol-Bréhat Tidal Turbine in France
UK - France: New Survey for FAB Link Interconnector Underway
UK: Statoil chooses Nexans to supply cables for the world‘s first floating wind farm
UK: Norfolk Marine Provides Scour Remediation for Scroby Sands
UK: JDR Supplies Umbilicals for West Brae Field
UK: Route Clearance to Begin on Western Link Project
UK: SPR, Vattenfall Discover WWI German Submarine at East Anglia OWF
UK: Galloper Has a Licence to Power
UK: Centrica and EIG Sell Lynn and Inner Dowsing OWFs
UK: DONG Signs Westermost Rough Transmission Sale
UK: Dong Greenlights Behemoth Hornsea Project One OWF
UK: Galloper Recognised for Finance Deal
UK: Pharos Offshore Grabs Walney OWF Cable
UK: VBMS Prepping for Pre-Lay Grapnel Run at Dudgeon OWF
UK: Mainstream Raring to Build 450 MW Neart na Gaoithe OWF
UK: DONG Sells Half of Burbo Bank Extension to PKA, LEGO
UK: Fair Head Tidal targets summer for marine licence application
Atlantic: Xtera Completed the Marine Installation of Its Second Repeatered Subsea Cable System Project
Portugal: Third-party cable fault keeps WindFloat 1 power off grid
Greece – Cyprus – Israel: Survey vessel looking for best route for undersea power cable
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Project Update middle east
Saudi Arabia: Jan De Nul’s CLV Isaac Newton Heads to Its First Mission
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Table of Contents
Project Update africa
Africa: SEACOM and Ciena Drive Web-scale Services across Africa
Africa/Middle East: Multiple cable faults in last week of January 2016
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Project update asia
Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan plans first Caspian offshore wind farm at 198MW
India: Potential wind farm atlas ready
India: ‚Powerless‘ Elephanta Island to get electricity from I-Day Mauritius: Carnegie kicks-off Mauritius project
Sri Lanka - India: Sri Lanka-India power link pre-feasibility complete
Philippines: ERC says attempt to link Mindanao and Visayas power grids failed
China: Rudong OWF Project Starts Producing Power
Japan: NEDO Backs Two Wind Farm Projects off Japan
South Pacific Ocean: Bureau Veritas Greenlights Ocean Thermal Energy Converter Project
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Project Update australia
Australia - Tasmania: Tasmania power crisis: Labor urges homes, businesses to cut electricity consumption
Australia - Tasmania: More back-up generators ordered because of delays in Basslink cable repair
West Australia: Carnegie Wave Energy’s CETO 6 unit generating power in Western Australia
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Project update north america
Prince Edward Island: Korea gets contract for part of P.E.I.‘s new underwater power cable
Block Island: National Grid Kicks off Block Island OWF Connection Works
New Jersey: New Jersey Governor Shelves Offshore Wind Bill
New Jersey: DONG Energy Takes Up another U.S. Offshore Wind Site
New York: LS Cable wins $100m. contract for U.S. and Canada
Pacific: Microsoft’s Project Natick Tests Datacenter Underwater
Bahamas: SST Completes Engineering Project for the US Navy
Gulf of Mexico: McDermott Scoops Anadarko Subsea Gig
California: Hermosa Beach to serve four submarine cables
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Project Update caribbean
Caribbean: C&W Networks Selects Xtera for Upgrading Its Multiple Submarine Cable Systems to 100G Technology
Cuba - US: Cuba – US cable under consideration
Cuba - US: UCT 1 - Unit of choice for GTMO cable landing
Martinique: MMT, Reach Subsea to Work on NEMO Project for DCNS
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Table of Contents
Project Update world
US - Europe: PCCW Global Picks AEConnect
US - Europe: Global Cloud Xchange Upgrades Transatlantic Route with Ciena
Asia – Africa – Europe: AAE-1 Consortium Selects Xtera for the Supply of Equipment
Supporting the Terrestrial Segments of Its 25,000 km Network
South East Asia – Middle East – Western Europe: Location of Landing Station unveiled
Oman – Somalia - Ethiopia: Gulf to Africa, G2A, a New Groundbreaking Cable System
Singapore – Malaysia – India – Sri Lanka – Oman – UAE: Undersea cable project reaches Chennai
Australia – Guam: Submarine cable cut lops Terabits off Australia‘s data bridge
Australia – Hawaii: Infinera, Telstra Validate ACT on Endeavour Subsea Cable
Australia – New Zealand – US: Talks stalled for additional funding
Asia – US: AAG Taps Ciena to Add More Capacity to Trans-Pacific Network
Trans-Pacific: Trans-Pacific submarine cable within three years
Chile – China: Chile, China sign ICT agreement
US – Hawaii – Guam – Indonesia – Philippines: UH expands global network capacity with RTI partnership
US – Hawaii – Guam – Indonesia – Philippines: RTI and Bluesky Pacific Group to Provide Seamless Connectivity
Between US, Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, American Samoa, New Zealand, and Key Asian Destinations
US – Brazil: Seabras-1 USA applied for landing licence
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special report
BPP-Cables - POWERING UP: THE POWERCAB JIP
Assodivers – Assotrencher IV
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Company news
ABB: ABB’s Octopus for Ultra Deep’s Newbuilds
Aquatic Engineering & Construction: Aquatic in DNV GL JIP on Cable and Pipe Laying Equipment
Atlas Professionals: Atlas Provides Personnel for Monita Project
Bibby Offshore: Bibby Offshore Proposes New Work Model for Subsea Industry
BPP Cables: BPP Cables Adds Director of Cable Operations
Construction Industry Research and Information Association: CIRIA Releases UXO Best Practice Guidelines
Deep Ocean Engineering: Deep Ocean Engineering Names VP of Sales and Marketing
DNV GL: DNV GL acquires Swedish power system expert Gothia Power
EdgeTech: EdgeTech Finds 6205 MPES Agent for Americas
Eidesvik Offshore: Siemens to Use Eidesvik’s Vessel to Support German Ops
EIVA: EIVA in Indonesia Representative Deal with Geotronix
Energienet.dk: Energinet.dk Seeks Vessels for Subsea Cable O&M
ENG Resources: ENG Resources to Help Recruiting in Subsea Industry
Fraunhofer UK: ORCHIDS Project to Enhance Subsea Cable Monitoring
French Environment and Energy Management Agency: Marseilles to Host Floating Offshore Wind Players in March
Global Marine Systems Limited: HC2’s Subsidiary, Global Marine Systems Limited, Acquires Majority Interest in CWind
Hexicon: Atkins to Design Dounreay Trì Floating Platform
IKM Subsea Singapore: IKM Subsea Bags ROV Contracts in Singapore
JDR: JDR Adds New Members to Board of Directors
Kinewell Energy: KLOC Cuts Cable Costs and Electrical Losses
Kongsberg Maritime AS: Kongsberg Sells Six HUGIN AUVs
Kongsberg Maritime AS: Kongsberg Launches New Subsea Transponders
Kraken Sonar Systems Inc.: Kraken Secures $500K Canada Backing
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Table of Contents
Latam Telecommunications: Significant burden on submarine operators
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Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited: China Longyuan Wraps Up CNY 2 Bn Debenture Offering
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Louis Dreyfus TravOcean: Saab Seaeye Leopards for Louis Dreyfus TravOcean
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Makai Ocean Engineering Inc.: Makai upgrades software to plan and simulate subsea power and telecom cable installations P. 088
Marine Power Systems: SST Finalizes WaveSub Pump Testing
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Maersk Supply Service: MSS Welcomes Maersk Connector to Its Fleet
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New Jersey Fiber Exchange: Windstream expands its 100G Network to NJFX’s Meet-Me Room at
Tata Communications’ Cable Landing Station
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Oceaneering: BP Calls Off Vessel Contract with Oceaneering
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OceanServer Technology: DRDC Acquires Iver3 AUV
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Offshore Wind Accelerator: New guide to offshore wind cable burial
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Pharos Offshore: Pharos Subsea Hydraulic Cable Grab Helps Repair Basslink
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PhotoSynergy Ltd.: PSL Releases New Product; Gets Harkand and Bibby Offshore Support
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Rederij Groen: Rederij Groen Buys into GloMar
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ROVOP: ROVOP and WFS Join Forces to Slash OPEX
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Meriaura OY: Rumours: CS Aura sold?
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Seanamic Group: Umbilical International Sets Up Facility in Glasgow
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Soil Machine Dynamics: SMD Delivers Solwara 1 Seafloor Production Tools
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Southern Cross Cable Network: SX US POP Expansion
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Southern Cross Cable Network: Southern Cross shareholders start work on future international cable roadmap
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Scottish and Southern Energy: SSE consults on burying subsea cables to Shetland’s isles P. 099
Statkraft: Partial Privatisation Proposed for Statkraft
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Subsea Innovation: Subsea Innovation Makes New Appointments
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Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance Institute: Taiwan Aims for 4 GW of Installed Offshore Wind Capacity by 2030 P. 100
TenneT: TenneT Spins Turntables at Eemshaven
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TenneT: TenneT Shelves Offshore Maintenance Centre Plan
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UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office: UK Helps Develop India’s Offshore Wind, First Tendering Process Expected in 2018 P. 102
UTEC Survey: UTEC Survey Names New Head of Finance
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Vodafone Portugal: Vodafone Portugal says submarine cable too expensive
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Volstad Maritime AS: Grand Canyon III Delivery Postponed
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Volstad Maritime AS: Volstad Turns Down DeepOcean’s Charter Termination
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outlook
Edition 165
Disclaimer
Imprint
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Advertisers Index
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ADVERTORIAL
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project updates
Europe
Norway
Nexans to provide submarine cables for Lofotkraft grid strengthening project
In a contract worth 4.6 million Euros, LofotKraft AS has once again selected Nexans
to deliver and install 170 kV XLPE cables to
upgrade the current systems in three fjords;
Gimsøystraumen, Nappstraumen and Flakstadpollen to strengthen the power supply
for residents throughout Lofoten, Norway.
This will include upgrading the current grid
capacity from 66 kV to 132 kV.
versary of Nexans Norway, which began in
1915 as Scandinavian Cable and Gummifabrik. Throughout this time, the Group has
delivered more than 1500 submarine cable
projects, which together contribute to over
50% of global transmission.
Tom Skattum, Project Manager at Nexans
Norway said, “We are pleased to be working
with Lofotkraft AS again as part of our 50
Lofotkraft AS will upgrade the submarine
cable in all three fjords to extend longevity and solve issues related to inadequate
transmission capacity. Nexans Norway will
supply the 170 kV XLPE cables with transition joints, end terminations and contingency repair joints.
The project begins in January 2016, with
supply of the submarine cable scheduled
for spring 2017 at Nexans’ Halden plant in
Norway.
We have just celebrated the 100th anni-
year long relationship. Upgrading this grid
means we are not only increasing the capacity, but increasing the redundancy, ensuring energy security of the residents of
Lofoten.”
Bjørn Harald Vian at Lofotkraft AS added :
“The award is based on an overall assessment of the award criteria; price, project
execution, quality and HSE. Furthermore,
Nexans' experience and expertise in submarine cables were rated highly. In addition to being cost-effective, our previous
Page 7
experience with Nexans in terms of service,
response time, as well as certifications is positively emphasized.”
About Nexans
Nexans brings energy to life through an
extensive range of cables and cabling solutions that deliver increased performance for
our customers worldwide. Nexans’ teams
are committed to a partnership approach
that supports customers in four main business areas: Power transmission and distribution (submarine and land), Energy resources
(Oil & Gas, Mining and Renewables), Transportation (Road, Rail, Air, Sea) and Building
(Commercial, Residential and Data Centers).
Nexans’ strategy is founded on continuous
innovation in products, solutions and services, employee development, customer
training and the introduction of safe, lowenvironmental-impact industrial processes.
In 2013, Nexans became the first cable
player to create a Foundation to introduce
sustained initiatives for access to energy for
disadvantaged communities worldwide.
Nexans is an active member of Europacable, the European Association of Wire & Cable Manufacturers, and a signatory of the
Europacable Industry Charter. The Charter
expresses its members' commitment to
the principles and objectives of developing
ethical, sustainable and high-quality cables.
We have an industrial presence in 40 countries and commercial activities worldwide,
employing close to 26,000 people and generating sales in 2014 of 6.4 billion euros.
Nexans is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris,
compartment A.
For more information, please consult: www.
nexans.com
project updates
Europe
UK - Norway
Steel River Consultants to Work on NSN Link
Health-and-safety specialists Steel River
Consultants (SRC) have been selected to
provide technical support for a project to
construct an electricity link between the UK
and Norway.
The company will act as hazard identification (HAZID) facilitator and provide CDM
support and health and safety advisory services to cable supplier Prysmian.
The North Sea Link (NSL) project, a project
owned 50 per cent each by National Grid
and Statnett, will be the first direct electricity connection between the UK and Norway.
At more than 720 kilometres cable route, it
will be the world’s longest interconnector
running from Blyth, in Northumberland, to
Kvilldal, in Rogaland, on the Norwegian side.
Prysmian has been awarded a contract
to design, fabricate and install 2 x 470km
of sub-sea cables and 2 x 2km of onshore
cables which will be manufactured at the
group’s factory in Naples and installed using
its cable laying vessel the Giulio Verne.
The interconnector will be installed by the
end of 2021 and will allow Britain to import
and export up to 1,400MW of electricity, enough to meet the annual power needs of
almost a million homes.
Chris Lawson, SRC’s regional manager said:
“We are delighted to have been appointed
by Prysmian and take great pride in working on such an exciting and important
energy project.”
energy offshore solutions
eos projekt – technical project management, design, consultancy,
permitting, site management for grid connections and the
installation of offshore wind farms and energy transmission grids –
competent and goal-orientated.
eos projekt is a solid consultant and engineering office in its field.
It is our goal to support all our projects by following solutionoriented approaches with our idea:
„Competence meets Passion“
eos projekt GmbH
Bürgermeister-Fink-Straße 7
D-30169 Hannover
Page 8
Phone: +49 511 89 88 160
Fax:
+49 511 89 88 161
Email: eos@eos-projekt.com
project updates
Europe
Sweden
ABB retraces its pioneering technology roots to upgrade world’s first HVDC link
$22million upgrade to enable more renewable energy integration and boost grid reliability on the island of Gotland, Sweden.
ABB, the leading power and automation
technology group, has won orders worth
over $22 million from Vattenfall Eldistribution AB to upgrade the world’s first commercial high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power transmission link, which ABB installed
in 1954. This takes the company back to the
roots of a game-changing technology it pioneered more than 60 years ago. The orders
were booked in the fourth quarter of 2015.
The 150-kilovolt (kV) link has the capacity
to transmit 320 megawatts (MW) of power
100 kilometers from Västervik, on the east
coast of mainland Sweden, to Ygne, on the
island of Gotland. The link provides electricity to meet the needs of the 58,000 residents of Gotland and enables wind power,
generated on the island, to be transmitted
to the mainland. This upgrade will help enhance capacity and enable greater amount
of wind power generation on Gotland, to
be integrated into the grid for use both locally in Sweden and across borders.
As a key element of the upgrade ABB will
install its state-of-the-art MACH control and
protection system, which is like the brain of
an HVDC link. ABB’s MACH control system
offers unmatched calculation capacity and
a high degree of integration capability to
handle control and protection functions,
designed to run around the clock for 30 years or more. It also incorporates advanced
fault registration and remote control functions. The cooling system will also be up-
graded as part of the project. The upgrades
replace aging equipment and will help
improve security of power supply to the
island. The addition of a modern operator
interface will also help extend the lifetime
of the link in addition to providing improved availability and functionality.
The world’s first commercial HVDC transmission system installed by ABB between
the island of Gotland and the Swedish
mainland, came into operation in 1954.
History was repeated when the world’s
first interconnection using HVDC Voltage
Sourced Converter (VSC) technology, called HVDC Light by ABB, was installed on
Gotland in 1999. The HVDC installation has
been progressively upgraded by ABB as this
technology has developed, and the latest
upgrade is another step in this direction.
“Having pioneered HVDC technology by
commissioning this first commercial link in
1954, we are proud to provide a new life to
this critical asset. By enabling more wind
power integration more people will benefit from clean renewable energy, helping to
lower environmental impact” said Patrick
Fragman, Managing Director of ABB’s Grid
Systems business, part of the company’s
Power Grids division. “This upgrade project
reaffirms our Next Level strategy focus on
providing our customers with differentiated value through technology, during the
whole life cycle of build-up, operation and
maintenance of their assets.”
Page 9
Since it pioneered HVDC technology more
than 60 years ago, ABB has been awarded
over 110 projects, representing a total installed capacity of more than 120,000 megawatts and accounting for about half the
global installed base. ABB continues to be a
market and technology leader in this space
and today, amongst its increasing number
of applications, HVDC is playing a key role in
integrating renewables, evacuating power
efficiently and reliable across long distances
and interconnecting regions and countries.
About ABB
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power
and automation technologies that enable
utility, industry, and transport and infrastructure customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental
impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in roughly 100 countries and employs
about 140,000 people.
project updates
Europe
Sweden
Sotenäs Wave Energy Plant Delivers Power to Nordic Grid
The Sotenäs Wave Power Plant on the Swedish West Coast has started generating
electric power to the Nordic Electricity Grid.
The connection of the six meter diameter
buoys to the corresponding linear generator Wave Energy Converters on the seabed
represents the final step in bringing each
unit on line, together making up a system
establishing many world firsts, including
the world’s first multiple unit wave power
plant and the World’s first subsea generator
switchgear.
“This is a very significant achievement”, says
Prof. Mats Leijon, Seabased CEO. “We are
very happy to have come this far and I wish
to thank Fortum and the Swedish Energy
Agency for their confidence and support
all throughout this, sometimes tough, journey.”
Seabased is continuing working on several
other projects utilizing this concept.
The Sotenäs Wave Power Plant is financed
by Fortum, the Swedish Energy Agency
and Seabased. Research and Development
within Seabased is carried out in close cooperation with researchers at the Centre for
Electric Renewable Energy Conversion at
the Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University.
med.
According to Litgrid, during the test, electricity was flowing from Sweden to Lithuania
and the other way round, with interconnec-
tion operating at 30 megawatts.
“Only after completely assured that other
parts of the interconnection and their
equipment were working flawlessly, we
could proceed to one of the last stages of
testing – power transmission. These tests
and their outcome will define the reliability
of the interconnection for the coming 30
years,” said Daivis Virbickas, Litgrid CEO and
chairman of the board.
The ability to transmit electricity between
Klaipėda and Nybro, as well as various parameters and functionality of HVDC converters, will be tested for a week at least.
During the tests, the load will be gradually
increased until the maximum load capacity
is reached.
A cable of 700 MW capacity could cover
around half of Lithuanian consumption
needs on a warm winter day. NordBalt is
implemented in cooperation with the Swedish TSO Svenska kraftnät.
Lithuania - Sweden
NordBalt Enters Testing Phase
The NordBalt cable, connecting Lithuania
and Sweden has started with power transmission tests, the Lithuanian electricity
transmission system operator, Litgrid, infor-
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project updates
Europe
Denmark
Vattenfall Looking for ROV, UXO Survey Services
Vattenfall Vindkraft A/S is seeking a contractor to carry out ROV inspection works of
debris and potential UXO at its Horns Rev 3
offshore wind farm site off the Danish west
coast.
The contract will cover ROV inspection of
debris and potential unexploded ordnance
in water depths of 10m to 20m, with electromagnetic detectors on an ROV for redetection of anomalies identified during
a previous survey and a forward-looking
sonar and HD camera for live imaging from
the ROV.
The works will also include debris removal
and sand removal for exposure of buried
objects.
Vattenfall also left an option to use the ves-
sel as a platform for Explosive Ordnance
Disposal (EOD) operations, which are not
part of scope in the current invitation for
tenders.
The works are planned to be performed
during summer 2016 and will last for three
months.
Deadline for the submission of tenders is 28
February, 2016.
In February last year, Vattenfall won the
right to develop the 400MW wind farm
comprising up to 51 MHI Vestas V1648.0MW turbines.
Denmark
Second Offshore Wind Farm Decommissioning on the Way
DONG Energy is preparing to decommission world’s first offshore wind farm, located
off Danish island of Lolland.
company is preparing to retire the wind
farm, said Leif Winther, who is responsible
for DONG Energy’s Danish offshore wind
After 25 years of operation, Vindeby’s turbines are worn down and therefore the
farms. In the summer of 1991, the 4.95MW
Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm, comprising
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eleven 450kW wind turbines, fed the first
offshore wind energy to the Danish grid.
The same way it allowed for better understanding of offshore wind conditions and
turbine design and operation, the wind
farm can now again bring a competitive
edge to Danish companies, but this time
in the dismantling of offshore wind farms,
which is still an unexplored field, according
to DONG Energy.
The company also said it is interested in
a dialogue on the use of the wind farms’s
infrastructure before the decommissioning
starts.
“There are cables with an associated substation onshore, and it might be interesting
for companies interested in renewable energy. We would like to enter into dialogue
with them prior to dismantling the wind
farm,” Winther said.
Last month, Vattenfall carried out the first
ever decommissioning of an offshore wind
farm by taking down its 10MW Yttre Stengrund wind farm in Sweden.
project updates
Europe
Denmark
Danish association wins 28-MW offshore wind demo project
Wind turbine association Nissum Bredning
Vindmollelaug has won a project to build,
using 7-MW Siemens turbines, a 28-MW
offshore wind farm in Danish waters for demonstration purposes.
The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) announced this, saying that the project will be
backed with a feed-in tariff (FiT) of DKK 0.70
(USD 0.105/EUR 0.094) per kWh for up to 11
years. The total funding for the scheme is
estimated at about DKK 300 million.
The award calls for Nissum Bredning Vindmollelaug to install and test four Siemens
turbines on suction bucket jacket founda-
tions in northwest Denmark. The developer
believes that the technology could save
12.5% in both capital and operating costs.
DEA noted that Siemens’ 7-MW machines
have not yet been tested offshore.
Finland
Finland to Build 40 MW Offshore Wind Farm
Finnish wind energy developer Suomen
Hyötytuuli Oy will start building a 40 MW
offshore wind farm in Pori this spring, the
company informed.
The project, worth almost EUR 120 million,
is the world’s first offshore wind farm suitable for icy conditions, according to Suomen
Hyötytuuli.
Siemens will supply, install and commission
ten of its 4 MW turbines, and will also be
responsible for servicing them.
Technip Offshore Finland will supply gravity-based steel foundations, while ABB
is in charge of the substation and main
transformers. “The construction expenses
are nearly double the expenses required
for onshore wind power, in particular due
to the undersea foundations and cablings.
The demonstration project at Tahkoluoto
is used to determine a cost-efficient way of
building wind power in Finnish conditions:
the developing and growing business has
room for new export products to lower the
level of costs,” Toni Sulameri, the Managing
Director of Suomen Hyötytuuli Oy, said.
Construction will start with dredging this
spring. The underground cable and substation will be installed between the up-
coming and following summers, the foundations and undersea cable in spring and
summer 2017. “The turbines will be erected
in summer 2017, and the wind farm will
produce energy in the autumn of the same
year,” says Arto Huhmarkangas, Project Director for the offshore wind farm.
In 2010, Siemens already supplied one
2.3MW turbine to Suomen Hyötytuuli for
the Pori pilot project, which will now be
surrounded by the ten wind turbines of the
Tahkoluoto wind farm.
Denmark - Germany
Danish Minister Approves Baltic Sea Interconnection to Germany
The Danish Minister for Energy, Utilities and
Climate, Lars Christian Lilleholt, has approved Energinet.dk’s application for investment in a new interconnection between
the Eastern Danish and German electricity
grids via the Baltic Sea.
Pursuant to the Danish Act on Energinet.dk,
any investments in the transmission grid
exceeding DKK 100 million must be approved by the Minister.
“The Minister’s approval is important and
helps create the future, cross-border elec-
tricity market, where much more electricity must be traded back and forth across
borders. On the one hand, Danish power
stations and wind turbine owners can sell
more electricity to German consumers and
make a profit on it. On the other hand, Danish consumers can buy electricity in Germany, for example when the wind is not
blowing and the wind turbines are not
spinning. This makes the green transition
less expensive and more effective,” said Torben Glar Nielsen, Executive Vice President,
CTO, at Energinet.dk.
Page 12
(continues on p. 13)
project updates
Europe
(continued)
Denmark - Germany
Danish Minister Approves Baltic Sea Interconnection to Germany
The connection will have a capacity of 400
megawatt (MW) and is a joint project between Energinet.dk and the German transmission system operator 50Hertz. It is the
world’s first interconnection between two
countries that also connects two countries’
offshore wind farms, Energinet.dk wrote.
The Danish offshore wind farm, Kriegers
Flak, which the Folketing decided to erect
in the Baltic Sea based on the energy agreement from 2012, will be connected to
the submarine cables, which run from the
German side to the two German offshore
wind farms Baltic 1 and Baltic 2.
As the interconnection connects two different electricity areas, it is necessary to build
a facility in Bentwisch which can synchronise electricity from the Eastern Danish and
German systems.
With the approval, the Danish-German project can start entering contracts with suppliers. The CGS connection must be ready
by the end of 2018.
Germany
SeaVex Refurbishment wins Estuary Power Cable burial
After a 4 week refurbishment of the recently acquired SeaVex, Pharos Offshore currently has a team of 7 personnel manning
the Mass Flow Excavator.
SeaVex is based on a hybrid subsea excavation system which is extremely adaptable,
compact and controllable.
The equipment houses a large single cast
impellor complete with direct drive and
torque restrictor driven by a powerful compact hydraulic motor. Fitted with adjustable
sized outlet nozzles at the base of the tool
it allows enhanced kPa cutting of a comprehensive range of seabed materials.
Each system is fitted with a Narrow Beam
Imager for live monitoring of operations.
SeaVex, currently on-board the DPV Supporter, will be burying a live Power Cable
section of 100m to a depth of 4m in the
Estuary of the River Weser, Germany.
Reacting quickly to customer requirements
the system was prepared and shipped wi-
Page 13
thin 5 days.
Pharos Offshore delivers engineering solutions for subsea cable installation, maintenance and repair.
We work with clients across the offshore Oil
& Gas, Submarine Telecoms and Renewable
Power industries. Our in-house expertise
includes highly skilled and experienced offshore technical professionals and on-shore
engineering management and operational
support teams. Pharos Offshore develops
subsea cable handling and burial solutions,
including vehicle and handling systems,
with a proven track record in taking projects from concept design, delivery, testing
and on-going support.
We deliver innovative engineering solutions by combining state of the art technology with knowledge gained from real
operational experience. Pharos offshore
personnel are experienced in all major manufacturers of Remote Operated Vehicles,
Plough systems and Launch and Recovery
Systems. Our multi-disciplined team have
an extensive track record in subsea trenching, survey and ROV support.
project updates
Europe
Germany
Seabed Preparation Starts for Veja Mate OWF
Seabed preparation work has begun at Veja
Mate, a 402MW offshore project located 95
km North West from the island of Borkum in
the German North Sea.
The Veja Mate offshore wind park will con-
sist of 67 Siemens 6MW turbines using the
“world’s largest” monopiles.
A two-layered scour protection system,
designed to avoid natural scour erosion,
using stones of select size and thickness,
will allow for the post installation of the
monopiles. Actual foundation installation
is scheduled for April 2016, marking the
construction start of the project.
Rasmus Miller, Foundation Package Manager, stated, “A lot of hard work, from both
our contractors, and our Veja Mate project team has been done to get ready for
the seabed preparation. Beginning preconstruction work just 6 months after funding is an extremely short time schedule; I
am happy that the Foundation Package has
got off to a good start.”
Knud Andersen, Chief Operations Officer,
added, “I am very pleased with our agile,
high-performing international team. We at
Veja Mate are seriously committed to making Germany’s energy supply greener by
increasing its use of clean wind power.”
When fully operational in 2018, Veja Mate
will produce over 1.6 TWh of electricity annually for 400,000 households in Germany.
Germany
Heerema to Build and Install BorWin3 Jacket
Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG) has been
awarded a contract from Petrofac for the
procurement & construction of the jacket
and piles for BorWin3.
Petrofac, in a consortium with Siemens, has
the full responsibility for the construction
and offshore installation of the BorWin3
platform of TenneT, which will house a Siemens HVDC station that converts the alternating current produced by the wind turbines to direct current before transmitting
it onshore to the German national grid.
Petrofac will do the engineering and HFG
Page 14
from its Vlissingen facilities will undertake
the fabrication of the HVDC substation jacket and piles.
Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) will
transport and install the jacket in the North
Sea at a water depth of up to 40 metres and
approximately 100 kilometres off the German coast.
Fabrication will start in the third quarter of
2016 and the sail away is scheduled for March 2018.
project updates
Europe
Germany
Trianel Windpark Borkum Phase II Offers Cabling Job
Trianel Windkraftwerk Borkum II GmbH &
Co. KG has issued a tender invitation for
production, installation, and turnkey installation of the inner park cabling within an
offshore wind farm in the EEZ.
The Trianel Windpark Borkum is the first offshore wind farm to have been established
under the direction of Trianel Windkraft-
werk Borkum GmbH & Co. KG with the exclusive involvement of 33 municipal utilities
and regional energy suppliers.
In mid-July 2015, Trianel had put 40 wind
turbines with a capacity of 200 megawatts,
which are located approximately 45 kilometres off the coast of the North Sea island
of Borkum, into full operation. In October
Germany
Dalby’s ASV Pioneer Grabs New Job in Germany
Dalby’s ASV Pioneer is heading to Northern
Germany to carry out cable repair works for
an undisclosed German client.
Prior to this engagement, the vessel underwent refit in Gdansk in Poland at the end
of 2015.
The vessel secured new work after completing cable remediation on the Baltic 2
Offshore Wind Farm during 2015 for Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke GmbH.
According to Dalby, the Pioneer will potentially be available again in April 2016.
Page 15
last year, the municipally anchored EWE
AG from Oldenburg and the cooperation
of municipal utilities Trianel from Aachen
have sealed a joint venture for the collaborative development of the second expansion stage of the Trianel wind farm Borkum
(TWB II) with 200 MW.
The second stage, with a further 40 turbines,
should boost the capacity to supply about
200,000 households with eco-electricity.
The TWB II contract
The contract concerns the production and
turnkey installation of the inner park cabling within the wind farm to connect a
minimum of 25 and a maximum of 34 of
the offshore wind park’s wind turbine generators of TWB II.
Production 33 (36)-kV submarine cable with
fibre optic cable, laying in waters approx.
30m LAT, laying 1.5m burial depth in the
seabed; overall approx. 50-55 km of cable in
29-39 separate cable links, as well as assembly, hang-off and testing of the cable up to
the point that it is ready for commissioning.
The contractor is also required to provide
storage for the cables at an appropriate
port near the construction site.
The deadline for the submission of tenders
is February 26, 2016.
project updates
Europe
Germany
Next Geosolutions Starts CWA Project Cable Route Survey
UK-based geoscience and engineering services provider, Next Geosolutions, has resu-
med operations on CWA Project with its SV
Kommandor Iona permanently fitted with a
comprehensive survey spread.
The Cluster West of Adlergrund (CWA) project consist of multiple 220kV AC grid connections of the two offshore wind parks
(OWP) “Arkona Basin South-East” and “Wikinger” located in the western Baltic Sea off
the north-eastern coast of Germany.
The export cables corridor is approximately
90km in length from the landfall at Lubmin
to each substation platform (SSP) of the
OWP. Currently, three HVAC cables are planned.
The S/V Kommandor Iona will undertake a
3-month geophysical, geotechnical & UXO
survey campaign to complete Next Geosolutions scope of work started back in 2015
with a 7-month survey programme onshore, nearshore and offshore.
Germany
Riffgat OWF Out of Action until End of April
Oldenburg-based utility EWE will not see
any power coming from its 113.4 MW Riffgat offshore wind farm until the end of April
due to a malfunction on the subsea cable
some 22 kilometres off the coast, Mathias
Fischer, a spokesperson for the grid operator TenneT TSO stated.
The wind farm has been offline since November 2015 when the export cable suf-
Page 16
fered a short circuit. The cable producer
NKT is currently searching for the source of
the malfunction.
Bad weather conditions are slowing down
the repair efforts and the wind farm ”may
not energise again before 24th of April
2016,” Fischer said.
TenneT connected the Riffgat OWF to
the grid back in February 2014, following
months of delays due to the unexploded
ordnance left from the World War Two,
which needed to be cleared from the
seabed, creating EUR 100 million of additional costs.
This is the second time the farm had to stop
producing power due to faulty cables. The
farm was shut down in August 2014 after
the cable connecting the wind farm to the
grid was affected during the work on Dolwin converter station, and needed to be
stabilised.
Comprising 30 SWT-3.6-120 Siemens wind
turbines, the Riffgat offshore wind farm is
located 15 kilometers to the north-west of
the German island of Borkum.
project updates
Europe
Germany
EnBW to Help Out Iberdrola with Wikinger
EnBW and Iberdrola have concluded a contract under which EnBW will provide services for the construction of the Wikinger
offshore wind farm in the German Baltic
Sea.
The two-year contract covers services dealing with the coordination of shipping
traffic, helath and safety and environmental protection at the construction site. The
EnBW Offshore Team will share their knowhow and expertise acquired during the
construction of its Baltic 1 and 2 offshore
wind farms.
Following the construction of the two
EnBW offshore wind farms Baltic 1 and Baltic 2, Wikinger will be the third wind farm in
the German part of the Baltic Sea.
Nikolaus Elze, Head of Technology in the
Generation and Operation business unit at
EnBW: “The conclusion of this contract represents a new example of cooperation in
the offshore wind industry that will benefit
both companies.”
Jürgen Blume, country manager for Iberdrola in Germany said: “As the installation of
Wikinger project draws nearer, this contract
will ensure that the best practices in terms
of quality control, health and safety and respect for the environment are implemented throughout the entire construction
phase while securing completion and grid
connection by 2017.
“In March, the first foundation piles will be
rammed into the seabed and preparations
for the cable installation will commence.
This agreement showcases the strong partnership between offshore wind developers
in the Baltic Sea.”
Performing solutions.
The €1.4 billion Wikinger offshore wind
farm will comprise 70 wind turbines with
a total output of 350 megawatts. Once in
operation, it will produce electricity equivalent to the consumption of more than
350,000 German households.
As with EnBW Baltic 2, the installation and
logistical base will be located in SassnitzMukran on the island of Rügen. The system
components will be transported to the
construction site from the Port of Sassnitz.
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Page 17
®
project updates
Europe
Germany
E.ON Switches Amrumbank West On, Says Time for Offshore Wind Is Now
E.ON has officially put into operation the
recently upgraded 302 MW Amrumbank
West offshore wind farm during a symbolic
ceremony held in Hamburg.
Referring to Amrumbank West as “technology at its best,” E.ON’s CEO Johannes Teyssen called for the continued expansion of
offshore wind.
“Every energy has its time, and the time
for expanding offshore wind is definitely
now. Offshore will be needed if we want to
achieve the targets of the energy transition,”
Teyssen said.
Teyssen added that E.ON would remain
committed to this field of business, focusing in particular on cutting the cost of renewable energy generation.
The Amrumbank West is situated 35 kilometers north of Helgoland. E.ON is inve-
sting a total of EUR 1 billion in the project.
Hamburg’s First Mayor Olaf Scholz said:
“Amrumbank West is another lighthouse
project for wind power at sea, which must
be followed by further offshore wind projects to make sure the energy industry and
industrial policy potential of offshore wind
is not left untapped. Hamburg and the federal states of northern Germany support
plans to push ahead with the network infrastructure and the construction of further
wind farms. Clean power is needed all over
Germany and green electricity from the
North Sea gives the German energy transition the necessary support.”
Under the motto “Energy and climate protection for future generations” the guests
of honor at the ceremony were supported
during the start-up by children from a Hamburg primary school.
Germany
Sandbank Project on Time despite Bad Weather
The construction of the 288 MW Sandbank
offshore wind farm in the North Sea is progressing well, with 69 out of 72 foundations
now in place, and the installation of the
turbines scheduled to start in the summer,
according to Vattenfall.
The offshore construction work commenced last summer; however, rough weather conditions in November and December with almost 12-metre waves prohibited
offshore works most of the time.
The cable work has also already started
Page 18
and two lines of cables have been installed.
Sandbank’s substation with its helideck has
been assembled and will be installed on
site during the spring.
A Hydro-Sound-Damper – consisting of a
net with plastic components – and a “bubble curtain” were used during the installation of the foundations in order to reduce
the underwater noise.
project updates
Europe
Germany
DONG Energy to Develop another OWF Project in Germany
DONG Energy has acquired project rights
for OWP West offshore wind farm from Erste
Nordsee-Offshore-Holding GmbH, a company owned by STRABAG and Northern
Energy Projects.
Information about the acquisition first appeared in late December 2015, after DONG
Energy took over the project on 16 December, 2015, according to STRABAG OW EVS
website.
DONG Energy today confirmed to Offshore
WIND that it had acquired the rights for the
OWP West project. The company did not
disclose any further details, saying that the
project is currently in a very early stage of
development.
With the licence for OWP West in its hands,
DONG Energy now owns all licences in German offshore wind Cluster 1 in the North
Sea, which also includes Borkum Riffgrund
West 1 and 2.
In April 2014, Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany (BSH) issued
a construction and operating licence for
the OWP West project, which comprises 41
wind turbines with a nominal capacity 5-8
MW.
Germany
Nordergründe offshore windfarm secures another investor
wpd AG is making final preparations to
begin construction of the Nordergründe
offshore wind project. Groundbreaking is
set for spring 2016 with the commissioning scheduled for the end of 2016. Debt
funding for the €410 million project was
arranged in June 2015 by the European Investment Bank and KfW IPEX Bank, however
a new co-investor, Gothaer Leben Renewables, has recently acquired an equity stake
in the project.
“We are very pleased that we have been
able to secure Gothaer as an equity investor
for Nordergründe,” said Helge Rau, head of
M&A at wpd AG. wpd said it plans to attract
further investors for the project.
wpd is responsible for construction and
operation of the Nordergründe project.
A total of 18 Senvion 6.2M126 turbines
will be erected in the estuary of the river
Weser. The total capacity of the project is
110.7MW. Nordergründe will be connected
to the grid by grid operator Tennet.
Germany
TenneT TSO GmbH Looking For AC Subsea Cable Supplier
Bayreuth-based TenneT TSO GmbH has, via
DC-Netz BorWin3 GmbH, issued a tender
for a supplier of an AC submarine cable to
link an offshore wind farm in the German
North Sea to the grid connection system.
The tender calls for manufacture, supply
and installation of the subsea cable in the
Cluster 8 of the German Exclusive Economic Zone, including compensation, fibre-
optic cable, cable performance, etc.
The cable must be designed for a transmission capacity of 500 MW and a voltage level of approximately 155 kv, as well as for
a connection to the electrical device of the
respective offshore platform.
The duration of the project is 36 months,
and the tender deadline is 9 March 2016.
The applicants can submit their bids either
Page 19
in German or in English.
DC Netz BorWin3 GmbH is responsible for
the construction, maintenance and management of the BorWin3 connection system that links a number of offshore wind
farms located in the North Sea with the
high-voltage grid of TenneT TSO GmbH.
ADVERTORIAL
Page 20
project updates
Europe
The Netherlands
New Offshore Grid Bill on the Way to Dutch Parliament
A new legislative proposal, appointing TenneT as the grid administrator at sea, will be
submitted to Dutch Parliament this month.
This new proposal is necessary, because
otherwise the understandings reached in
the Energy Agreement cannot be achieved
by 2020, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl) said.
The agency further explained that first and
second tender in the Borssele wind energy
area will only be fully considered for the
14% renewable energy target in 2020, if the
new law will go into effect no later than 1
April 2016. In this way, the first subsidy tender can be concluded at the beginning of
May 2016 and the second one at the end of
September 2016. This is all stated in a memorandum to the Dutch Lower House.
On the 22 December, 2015, the Dutch Upper House rejected an earlier legislative
proposal, called the Stroom bill.
Page 21
project updates
Europe
The Netherlands – Denmark
TenneT concludes contracts with Prysmian and Siemens for construction of ‘green’ subsea cable between Netherlands and Denmark
Dutch Transmission System Operator (TSO)
TenneT and its Danish counterpart Energinet.dk have signed contracts with Siemens
and Prysmian for the construction of the
COBRAcable between the Netherlands and
Denmark. Siemens will supply two converter stations for the direct-current (DC) connection: one in Eemshaven (Netherlands)
and one in Endrup (Denmark). Prysmian will
supply the DC cables and offshore installation works.
Scheduled for completion in 2019, the
COBRA cable is a new, over 350 kilometres
long subsea DC connection (interconnector) that will create a direct link between
the Dutch and Danish power grids. The
cable will have a total capacity of 700 MW,
which equivalents to the annual electricity
consumption of 700.000 households.
‘Green’ cable
TenneT CEO Mel Kroon commented: “Siemens and Prysmian are excellent partners
to undertake the realization of this important project. One main purpose of the
COBRA cable is to transport electricity between the Netherlands and Denmark. This
will promote further competition in the
Northwest European energy market, which
will ultimately benefit consumers. Because
we are directly linking the Dutch and Danish power grids, the security of supply for
businesses and consumers in both countries will increase. Plus the Netherlands and
Denmark will be able to exchange more
wind energy since the wind in both countries is not blowing with the same force on
every moment."
Switching between alternating and direct current
The new interconnector will have VSC-technology (Voltage Source Converters) with
transmission capacity of 700 megawatts
(MW), and will run between Eemshaven
(Netherlands) and Endrup (Denmark). The
Prysmian Group cableship Giulio Verne during loading operations in Arco Felice (Naples, Italy)
connection will be constructed as a HighVoltage Direct Current (HVDC) cable, since
the use of DC technology minimizes transmission losses over long distances and therefore virtually eliminates any loss of renewable electricity.
Two so-called ‘converter stations’ will
be built onshore in the Netherlands (at
Eemshaven) and in Denmark (at Endrup)
to ensure that electricity supplied by the
alternating-current (AC) grids of TenneT
and Energinet.dk can be imported and exported across the DC cable link. These stations convert outgoing alternating current
into direct current, and incoming direct
current into alternating current. All onshore
power grids are based on AC technology.
Converter station showing the INELFE-project using
Siemens HVDC-Plus power modules. The same type
will also be used in the COBRAcable project.
The COBRA cable will have positive socioeconomic effects in the Netherlands as
well as Denmark. TenneT and Energinet.dk
expect to invest more than EUR 600 million
Page 22
in the project, which will benefit consumers
and businesses in both countries. Each TSO
has a 50 percent stake in the COBRA project.
COBRA cable to be part of future offshore grid
COBRA is an abbreviation of ‘COpenhagen
BRussels Amsterdam’. The European Commission is supporting the COBRA project
with a EUR 86.5 million subsidy under the
European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR). The subsidy was granted to the
COBRA cable because this project can be
integrated into a future offshore electricity
grid in the North Sea, will promote competition in the electricity market, and will contribute to the integration of large volumes
of wind energy in the grid.
Other subsea electricity cables
The COBRA cable is not the first subsea
electricity connection constructed by TenneT. In 2008 the TSO completed the NorNed cable between the Netherlands and
Norway, the world’s longest DC cable link
(capacity: 700 MW, length: 580 km). This
was followed in 2011 by the BritNed cable
between the Netherlands and the UK (capacity: 1000 MW, length: 260 km).
In addition to the new COBRA cable, TenneT is currently also working on the NordLink project: a 1,400 MW subsea cable link
between Germany and Norway. All subsea
cables use HVDC technology.
project updates
Europe
The Netherlands - Denmark
Siemens Receives €170M COBRAcable Order
Siemens has been awarded an order for
COBRAcable, a link between the Dutch and
Danish power grids, by Danish power grid
service provider Energinet.dk and its Dutch
counterpart TenneT TSO.
Siemens will supply two HVDC converter stations at both sides of the DC power
line, which will be routed as a subsea cable
through the North Sea. The cable will be
supplied by the Italian company Prysmian
The scope of the order covers two 700 MW
converter stations for a DC voltage of ±320
Kilovolt (kV). The two converter stations,
one at Eemhaven in Holland, the other
in Endrup in Denmark, will be linked by a
325-kilometer long DC power cable.
Energinet.dk will be responsible for all the
construction work in Endrup for erecting
the building to house the Siemens converter equipment at that station. Siemens
will supply the turn-key converter station in
Eemshaven.
The scope of the order includes the system design and the supply, installation
and commissioning of all components. The
volume of Siemens’ share of the order is
around EUR 170 million.
The COBRAcable HVDC link has been
designated as one of the European
Commission’s projects of common interest
to help create an integrated European
Union energy market. The construction of
COBRAcable is scheduled to start this year
and the link is expected to take up commercial operation at the beginning of 2019.
TenneT CEO Mel Kroon commented: “One
main purpose of the COBRA cable is to promote competition in the Northwest European energy market, which will ultimately
benefit consumers. Because we are directly
linking the Dutch and Danish power grids,
the security of supply for businesses and
consumers in both countries will also increase. Plus the Netherlands will be able to import more renewable electricity, generated
mainly by Danish wind turbine farms.”
The Netherlands - Denmark
Contract worth around € 250 M for a submarine power cable link between the Netherlands and Denmark
Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry,
has been awarded a new contract worth
around € 250 million for an HVDC (High
Voltage Direct Current) submarine interconnector that will link Denmark and the
Netherlands, by TenneT TSO B.V. and Energinet.dk SOV, the operators of the Dutch
and of the Danish power transmission grids,
respectively.
The COBRAcable (“COpenhagen BRussels
Amsterdam”cable) will provide benefit to
the electricity grids of both countries involved, as it will make Dutch power capacity
structurally available to Denmark and vice
versa, increasing security of supply and
enabling the further integration of renewable energy into the electricity grids.The
COBRAcable interconnector will therefore
contribute to the realisation of a sustainable international energy landscape, a key
aim of the European Union, who is to support the project through the EEPR (European Energy Programme for Recovery).
The connection will be constructed using
High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology, which minimizes transmission losses over the long distances involved.
“This important award reconfirms our prominent role in the submarine cables sector
- states Massimo Battaini Senior Vice President Energy Projects at Prysmian Group - as
well as acknowledging our commitment to
the development of smarter and greener
power grids. We are very pleased and most
proud of having been chosen alongside
Siemens to undertake this challenging project by reputed and long standing customers“.
The contract awarded to Prysmian involves
the turn-key supply and installation of an
HVDC bipole - using single core cables with
extruded insulation technology - that will
operate at a voltage level of ±320 kV with a
rating of approximately 700 MW, equivalent
to the annual electricity consumption of all
households in the cities of Rotterdam and
Amsterdam combined. It will run along a
Page 23
total route of around 325 kilometres, from
Eemshaven (NL) to Endrup (DK) via the
German sector of the North Sea, and will include two onshore lengths of 1 km on the
Dutch side and 25 km on the Danish side
to link to the onshore converter stations,
which are to be provided under separate
contract by Siemens.
All cables will be produced in Arco Felice
(near Naples, Italy) and Pikkala (near Helsinki, Finland), the Group's centres of technological and manufacturing excellence for
submarine cables.
Prysmian is currently building on recent investments made in its Pikkala factory with a
further approximately € 10 million upgrade
to existing production lines, to significantly increase its manufacturing capacity of
extruded HV submarine cables.The marine
cable laying activities, which will be performed by the Group’s own cable-laying
vessels, the Cable Enterprise and the Giulio
Verne, will also see the use of their newly
acquired barge.
(continues on p.24)
project updates
Europe
(continued)
The Netherlands - Denmark
Contract worth around € 250 M for a submarine power cable link between the Netherlands and Denmark
Following the completion of its conversion
in the next months, which shall include the
fitting of a 7000 mT turntable, this barge
shall offer Prysmian an extended and versatile range of installation capabilities, not
least with its suitability for shallow water cable installation. Delivery of the cable system
is scheduled by the 3rd Quarter of 2018.
About Prysmian Group
Prysmian Group is world leader in the ener-
gy and telecom cables and systems industry. With more than 130 years of experience,
sales of nearly €7 billion in 2014, some
19,000 employees across 50 countries and
89 plants, the Group is strongly positioned
in high-tech markets and offers the widest
possible range of products, services, technologies and know-how. It operates in the
businesses of underground and submarine
cables and systems for power transmission
and distribution, of special cables for ap-
plications in many different industries and
of medium and low voltage cables for the
construction and infrastructure sectors.
For the telecommunications industry, the
Group manufactures cables and accessories for voice, video and data transmission,
offering a comprehensive range of optical
fibres, optical and copper cables and connectivity systems. Prysmian is a public company, listed on the Italian Stock Exchange in
the FTSE MIB index.
France
DCNS Deploys First Paimpol-Bréhat Tidal Turbine in France
The first tidal turbine for the Paimpol-Brehat
tidal project has been installed by DCNS off
the coast of Brittany, France.
The Paimpol-Brehat project, jointly developed by EDF and DCNS, will see another
tidal turbine installed at the project site in
the following months.
The first turbine was deployed using dedicated barge designed by DCNS/Open-
Hydro, with the help of twenty employees
from the two companies.
DCNS will now connect the turbine to the
French grid using the subsea converter
constructed by GE.
The converter will transfer power produced by turbines to an onshore substation in
Ploubazlanec that will feed the electricity to
the French grid.
UK - France
New Survey for FAB Link Interconnector Underway
FAB Link interconnector, between France,
the Channel Islands and the UK has come
a step closer with new surveys taking place
off East Devon and Alderney.
The team behind the FAB Link is planning to
lay two pairs of electricity cables between
the Cherbourg peninsula in Normandy in
northern France, and Devon. The interconnector will be able to carry power generated in Britain to France and vice versa.
In addition, it will route via the Channel Island of Alderney in order to pick up elec-
tricity which will be generated by a tidal
stream power plant that is proposed in the
island’s waters.
Survey work at the proposed ‘landing site’ at
Budleigh Salterton beach in East Devon has
been taking place last week following initial
work in the summer of 2015.
Declan Gaudion, of Alderney Renewable
Energy, one of the partners in the FAB Link
project, said: “Alderney has some of the
strongest tides in the world, and we intend
to harness their power, which when fully
developed, will generate enough electricity
Page 24
to power at least 1.8 million homes.
“The FAB Link interconnector will enable us
to export this clean, reliable and renewable
energy to consumers in Britain and France
and beyond.”
Chris Jenner, from FAB Link, said: “The aim
of our interconnector is to provide extra security of supply to both Britain and France,
while at the same time helping to keep
down prices for the consumer.
“Once the tidal power from Alderney is online, we’ll also be able to provide very low
carbon electricity to the people of Britain
(continues on p.25)
project updates
Europe
(continued)
UK - France
New Survey for FAB Link Interconnector Underway
and the rest of Europe.
“Here in the UK we’re looking into the feasibility of bringing our undersea cables ashore at Budleigh Salterton. We’re currently
analysing data from engineering and environmental offshore surveys of the planned
undersea route just off the coast.
“The response from all the local stakeholders we’ve started discussions with has
been very positive.
“Once we have laid the cables underground
we will reinstate the land so that it looks just
as it did before we arrived. Nevertheless, we
aim to hold a series of meetings with interested members of the public in the summer
so we can hear what people think about
our proposals.”
Gro Wæraas de Saint Martin, from RTE in
France, said: “The project has won the approval of the Commission of the European
Union because it will greatly increase energy security on both sides of the English
Channel and beyond. Linking national grids
in this way means that as more renewable
energy sources are developed across Europe, the benefits of low-carbon power can
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Page 25
be enjoyed by as many consumers as possible.”
project updates
Europe
UK
Statoil chooses Nexans to supply cables for the world's first floating wind farm
Statoil has awarded Nexans the contract
to supply static and dynamic cabling and
associated accessories for the world’s first
floating wind farm, following a successful
demo facilitated by Nexans’ cables which
has been in operation since 2009. Following the initial Norway demo, Statoil has
awarded Nexans a new contract worth approximately 10.2 million Euro to service the
Hywind Scotland Pilot Park wind farm. Nexans will deliver cables to the site, located
30km off the coast of Aberdeenshire.
The offshore cable systems will be tested,
sealed off, prepared for pull-in and delivered in individual lengths ready for installation. The cables will be tested and manufactured at Nexans’ specialized facility in
Halden, Norway, before completing delivery by the end of 2017.
The pilot 30MW floating farm will be made
up of five wind turbine generators connected through an inter-array cable network before feeding into a single export
cable carrying energy back to land in Peterhead, Scotland. Following the successful Norway demo, the project, assisted by
Nexans, will demonstrate technological
improvements, installation and operation
of multiple floating wind turbines, as well
as examine the cost efficiency of the park
configuration.
Dirk Steinbrink, Senior Executive Vice President High Voltage & Underwater Cable
Business Group at Nexans said, “This project
is a great example of Nexans pioneering alternative offshore wind design, extending
the options for renewable energy generation. The contract establishes Nexans as
leaders in offshore wind innovation by designing specialist cables for both the initial
pilot project and the Hywind Pilot Park. We
are proud to be able to support Statoil as
it helps the Scottish government realize its
commitment to 100% renewable energy by
2020.”
The Hywind project will generate green energy to power roughly 20,000 homes, and
will lead the way to developing larger floating wind farms in other areas after an initial
two-year testing period.
About Nexans
Nexans brings energy to life through an
extensive range of cables and cabling solutions that deliver increased performance for
our customers worldwide. Nexans’ teams
are committed to a partnership approach
that supports customers in four main busi-
ness areas: Power transmission and distribution (submarine and land), Energy resources
(Oil & Gas, Mining and Renewables), Transportation (Road, Rail, Air, Sea) and Building
(Commercial, Residential and Data Centers).
Nexans’ strategy is founded on continuous
innovation in products, solutions and services, employee development, customer
training and the introduction of safe, lowenvironmental-impact industrial processes.
In 2013, Nexans became the first cable
player to create a Foundation to introduce
sustained initiatives for access to energy for
disadvantaged communities worldwide.
Nexans is an active member of Europacable, the European Association of Wire & Cable Manufacturers, and a signatory of the
Europacable Industry Charter. The Charter
expresses its members' commitment to
the principles and objectives of developing
ethical, sustainable and high-quality cables.
We have an industrial presence in 40 countries and commercial activities worldwide,
employing close to 26,000 people and generating sales in 2014 of 6.4 billion euros.
Nexans is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris,
compartment A.
For more information, please consult: www.
nexans.com
UK
Norfolk Marine Provides Scour Remediation for Scroby Sands
Norfolk Marine has completed installation of
its TFN scour remediation system to E.ON’s
Scroby Sands offshore wind farm.
The system has been installed to 5 monopile
foundations on the site to provide protection against further scouring of the seabed
at the foundation bases.
After testing and development including
scale modelling at HR Wallingford’s new Fast
Flow Facility the TFN system was installed in
late 2015. According to Norfolk Marine, the
TFN System captures and maintains natural
seabed sediments so reinstating the seabed
with naturally occurring materials, this not
only prevents further scouring around base
of subsea structures but offers protecting
to cables at the critical interface between
trench and J tube. For new build sites the
system can be installed after monopile and
Page 26
cable installation has been completed.
“Our analysis of the short term impacts
showed that the nets were effective in preventing and reducing scour around monopile foundations,” HR Wallingford said.
E.ON operations & maintenance manager,
Steve Johnson, commented: “The TFN System developed by Norfolk Marine Ltd gives
a cost effective alternative to rock dumping
or sand/stone filled geotextile bags. The
TFNs can be easily removed for cable maintenance, and can be reinstalled, without the
need for expensive dredging.”
project updates
Europe
UK
JDR Supplies Umbilicals for West Brae Field
JDR has been awarded a contract by Marathon Oil for the design and manufacture of
11.3 kilometers of power and static subsea
umbilicals with accompanying termination
hardware for the West Brae field.
The full scope of the award will be manufactured and deployed from JDR’s Hartlepool, UK facility where they are currently expanding their manufacture footprint with
the installation of a helical lay-up machine
(HLM) to accompany their existing vertical
lay-up machine (VLM).
West Brae is located in the UK Central North
Sea, approximately 140 miles north east of
Aberdeen. Delivery is scheduled for July
2016.
David Currie, CEO of JDR, said: “This is a very
exciting win for JDR and we are proud to
partner with Marathon Oil on this prestigious contract. It’s contracts like these that
cement our decision to prepare for future
projects with the addition of our new HLM.
Our expansion will allow for further capacity for simultaneous umbilical and cable manufacture as well as expanding our steel-tube and thermoplastic umbilical capabilities.”
UK
Route Clearance to Begin on Western Link Project
Route clearance operations are set to begin
in the Irish Sea and the North Channel as
part of Western Link Project.
The route clearance, which will be con-
ducted in preparation for the future deep
water installation campaigns of the Western Link HVDC cable, is expected to be
completed beginning of February 2016.
The operations to be carried out at seven
locations, will involve locating and cutting
through the Out of Service (OOS) cables
that cross the Western Link HVDC cable
route.
The cables will be located using a de-trenching grapnel, and will be cut at the seabed
by a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV).
The severed sections of the cable will be
recovered and removed from the area. The
remaining OOS cable will remain undisturbed on the seabed.
Out of seven locations where the operations will be conducted, six are in the North
Channel, between Northern Ireland and
the Mull of Galloway. The seventh site is
located between Northern Ireland and the
Isle of Man.
The work on the route clearance will be undertaken by Go Pegasus vessel.
UK
SPR, Vattenfall Discover WWI German Submarine at East Anglia OWF
Whilst undertaking detailed seabed scanning for the development of wind farm projects in the East Anglia Zone, ScottishPower
Renewables (SPR) and Vattenfall uncovered
an ‘uncharted’ wreck of a WWI German submarine, missing in action since 1915.
Charlie Jordan, ScottishPower Renewables’
project director for the East Anglia ONE
wind farm said: “The scanning team were
expecting to see wrecks, but such a discovery was quite a surprise and has been extremely interesting.”
SPR and Vattenfall used sonar technology to scan over 6,000 km2 of the seabed
in the Southern North Sea over two years.
Although more than 60 wrecks were discoPage 27
vered during the scanning work, most of
these were anticipated, but the uncharted
submarine 90 km from shore was entirely
unexpected, SPR wrote.
Andy Paine, Vattenfall project director of
East Anglia Offshore Wind Farm said: “Following the discovery the team reported its
findings to the relevant authorities, including RoW (Receiver of Wreck) in the UK. The
seabed scanning had been undertaken by
Netherlands-owned company Fugro, and
their team made us aware of the Dutch
(continues on p. 28)
project updates
Europe
(continued)
UK
SPR, Vattenfall Discover WWI German Submarine at East Anglia OWF
Navy’s hunt for its last remaining missing
WWII submarine.
“We were all extremely keen to make
contact with the Dutch Navy to see if this
could be the submarine they have been
looking for over so many years: could we at
last have solved the mystery?”
The Royal Netherlands Navy was notified to
investigate whether it was Dutch military
submarine HNLMS O13, which went missing in action in June 1940, after the crew
were tasked to patrol the waters between
Denmark and Norway.
The wreck discovered within the East Anglia
Zone is 57.6 metres in length, 4.1 metres
in width and 4.6 metres in height and the
bow appears to be facing south. Damage
was observed at the bow and the stern, so
the original length could be slightly longer
than it appears and debris surrounding the
wreck suggests a more likely length of over
60 metres (but less than 70m).
The footage taken by the Dutch Navy divers
highlighted clear images of the conning tower and deck lay-out, which suggested the
wreck was of German origin. From German
drawings it was identified that this was a
WWI German submarine: Type U-31. A database of reference books shows that only
U-boats U-31 and U-34 had been lost in this
area of the North Sea.
Commander (Retired) Jouke Spoelstra of
the RNL Navy/Submarine Service, who
heads up project ‘Search for O-13’ said:
“Whilst it was disappointing from our per-
spective when we realised the wreck was
not that of O-13, we conducted several dives with divers of the minehunter HNLMS
Makkum and with a REMUS UAV sonar team
with the aim to achieve clearer footage of
the wreck and undertake investigative work
to ascertain its identity. It wasn’t an easy
job and several dives were required before
any real progress was made due to the sea
conditions surrounding the site meaning
we couldn’t obtain any evidence revealing
the exact identity. Fortunately on a recent
dive undertaken by the Lamlash North Sea
Diving team they had good conditions and
so were able to achieve clear footage and
finally identify the wreck.”
Three years after its initial discovery (in September 2012) the wreck was officially identified as German submarine, U-31, which
left for patrol on 13 January 1915 never to
return. The wreck is approximately 90km
offshore in the North Sea but sits on the
seabed at a depth of only 30 metres.
Mark Dunkley, marine archaeologist at Historic England adds: “SM U-31 was commissioned into the Imperial German Navy in
September 1914. On 13th January 1915, the
U-31 slipped its mooring and sailed northwest from Wilhelmshaven for a routine patrol and disappeared. It is thought that U-31
had struck a mine off England’s east coast
and sank with the loss of its entire complement of 4 officers, 31 men.”
“U-31 was the first of eleven Type U-31 submarines built between 1912 and 1915. The
class were considered very good high sea
boats with good surface steering; 8 were
sunk during operations while 3 surrendered and were scrapped after the war. Of
those lost during operations, the whereabouts and fate of two, including U-31, was
unknown.
“The discovery and identification of SM
U-31 by ScottishPower Renewables and
Vattenfall, lying some 91km east of Caisteron-Sea, Norfolk, is a significant achievement. After being on the seabed for over a
century, the submarine appears to be in a
remarkable condition with the conning tower present and the bows partially buried.
“Relatives and descendants of those lost in
the U-31 may now take some comfort in
knowing the final resting place of the crew
and the discovery serves as a poignant reminder of all those lost at sea, on land and
in the air during the First World War.”
ScottishPower Renewables’ Charlie Jordan
concludes: “Unravelling the whole story
behind the submarine has been fascinating
and it’s heartening to know that the discovery will provide closure to relatives and
descendants of the submariners lost who
may have always wondered what had happened to their loved ones.”
As an official military maritime grave, the
wreck of U-31 will remain in its final resting
place and plans for any offshore windfarm
development will be progressed ensuring
no disturbance to the area, SPR added.
to Great Britain, or in a Renewable Energy
Zone, “for the purpose of giving a supply to
any premises or enabling a supply to be so
given”. Galloper offshore wind farm will comprise 56 Siemens 6 MW wind turbines. It is
estimated that the average annual generati-
on expected at the site will be equivalent to
the approximate domestic needs of around
336,000 average UK households. The project
is located close to the existing offshore wind
farm Greater Gabbard and is scheduled to
become operational by March 2018.
UK
Galloper Has a Licence to Power
On 4 February, Ofgem granted an electricity
generation licence to Galloper Wind Farm
Limited. With the licence in place, the company developing the Galloper offshore wind
farm is authorised to generate electricity
in Great Britain, the territorial sea adjacent
Page 28
project updates
Europe
UK
Centrica and EIG Sell Lynn and Inner Dowsing OWFs
Centrica and its 50% joint venture partner EIG Global Energy Partners (EIG) have
agreed a joint sale of the 194 MW Lynn
and Inner Dowsing offshore wind farms
to a consortium comprising the UK Green
Investment Bank Offshore Wind Fund and
funds managed by BlackRock.
The overall transaction also includes the
sale of the 26 MW Glens of Foudland onshore wind farm, and is expected to bring
Centrica and EIG around GBP 423 million.
After repayment of debt associated with
the farms and other costs, Centrica’s net
share of the proceeds will be approximately
GBP 115 million.
The sale is in line with Centrica’s strategy
to dispose of its interests in wind power
generation, while continuing to purchase
wind power. The company will continue to
purchase 100% of the power and 50% of
the Renewable Obligation Certificates from
the three wind farms under existing power
purchase agreements until 2024.
The Lynn and Inner Dowsing offshore wind
farms are located off the coast of North East
Lincolnshire. Centrica started construction
of the wind farms in 2006 and they were
fully commissioned in March 2009.
The company will provide operations and
maintenance support to the farms up to
March 2017.
UK
DONG Signs Westermost Rough Transmission Sale
of its transmission assets to TC Westermost
Rough OFTO Limited.
The transmission assets, valued at GBP 157
million, include the onshore substation, export cables and the offshore substation.
TC Westermost Rough OFTO Limited is the
licensee entity comprising Transmission Capital Partners Limited Partnership and International Public Partnerships Limited.
Following a competitive tender, TC Westermost Rough OFTO Limited was selected in
May 2015 by Ofgem as preferred bidder for
the Westermost Rough offshore transmission license.
The 210MW Westermost Rough offshore
wind farm, located approximately 8km off
the East coast of Yorkshire near Withernsea,
features 35 Siemens 6MW wind turbines.
Westermost Rough Ltd, a wholly owned
subsidiary of DONG Energy, the UK Green
Investment Bank and Marubeni Corporation, has signed an agreement for the sale
Page 29
project updates
Europe
UK
Dong Greenlights Behemoth Hornsea Project One OWF
Dong Energy has made a final investment
decision to build the 1,200 MW Hornsea
Project One offshore wind farm in the UK.
Hornsea will on completion be the world’s
first offshore wind farm to exceed 1,000 MW
in capacity and by a large margin become
the world’s largest offshore wind farm. It
will be able to meet the electricity needs of
well over one million UK homes, Dong said
in a release.
“We are excited about building this huge
wind farm and pushing the boundaries of
the offshore wind industry. Hornsea together with Race Bank, Westermost Rough
Page 30
and Lincs will make up a giant production
area off the British east coast, supporting
our efforts to deliver green and independent energy to society,” Henrik Poulsen, CEO
of Dong Energy, said.
Hornsea was granted a Contract for Difference by the UK Government in April 2014
and will receive a fixed tariff for the first 15
years of production. The wind farm is expected to be fully commissioned in 2020,
and will be the final stage towards Dong
Energy delivering on its strategic target of
installing 6.5 GW of offshore wind by 2020.
Hornsea will surpass the 660 MW Walney
Extension, which had a final investment
decision in October 2015, as the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
Brent Cheshire, Dong Energy UK’ Country
Chairman, said: “Our decision to construct
this giant wind farm underlines our commitment to the UK market. Hornsea Project One will support the supply chain and
help create local jobs. To have the world’s
biggest ever offshore wind farm located off
the Yorkshire coast is hugely significant, and
highlights the vital role offshore wind will
play in the UK’s need for new low-carbon
energy.”
Hornsea is located 120 km off the Yorkshire
coast and covers approximately 407 square
kilometers. Dong Energy has chosen the
Siemens 7.0 MW wind turbine for the farm.
Dong Energy is the sole owner of Hornsea
after acquiring the 66.66% ownership share from Smart Wind in February 2015. The
company also has the project rights to the
Hornsea Project Two and Three, which have
the potential of further 3 GW offshore wind
power capacity in total.
project updates
Europe
UK
Galloper Recognised for Finance Deal
Galloper Wind Farm Ltd, a joint partnership
between RWE Innogy, UK Green Investment Bank (GIB), Siemens Financial Services
and Macquarie Capital, has received double
recognition from industry analysts following the high profile project partnership and
finance deals closed late in 2015.
Galloper has been named as European Power Deal of the Year in Project Finance International (PFI) Yearbook and Top Deal of
2015 by Infranews, following the completi-
on of the finance and project partnerships
that secured the future of the £1.5 billion
offshore project.
Previously, the project had been put on
hold following a number of challenges
which led to RWE Innogy undertaking a
complete redesign of the original project
and infrastructure, and seeking new partners and investors.
Mikko Simula, Finance Director for Galloper
Wind Farm Ltd, said: “The Financial Close for
UK
Pharos Offshore Grabs Walney OWF Cable
Pharos Offshore reported that one of its
subsea hydraulic cable grabs is being utilized aboard the Edda Fonn vessel to enable
diverless cable repair at the Walney offshore
wind farm.
The company’s personnel are assisting with
the ongoing cable recovery operations
aboard the vessel.
Pharos Offshore said its cable grab system
was built to specification for this project
and delivered to Liverpool Port within a 6
day turnaround.
The 367.2 MW Walney offshore wind farm is
fully commissioned. The wind farm is located approximately 15km off Walney Island,
Cumbria, in the Irish Sea in the UK.
Page 31
Galloper Wind Farm Ltd was the culmination of many months of successful negotiations with our partners and lenders. It sent
a clear message that the UK continues to be
strong market for offshore renewables.”
During the Financial Close process, UK
Green Investment Bank (GIB), Siemens Financial Services and Macquarie Capital
joined RWE Innogy in becoming 25% joint
equity partners of the Galloper project. The
debt financing for Galloper Wind Farm Ltd
was also secured with a consortium of 12
commercial banks and the European Investment Bank providing the £1.37 billion
debt facilities.
As part of the overall partnership agreement, Siemens will supply and install 56 of
its 6 MW turbines for the project and deliver
a 15-year maintenance contract.
Mark Muldowney, Managing Director, Energy & Infrastructure, BNP Paribas who acted
as financial advisor to the project said: “The
strong support of the financial markets
for the Galloper project demonstrates the
depth and capacity of the market for wellstructured deals with respected sponsors.”
The wind farm is currently being
constructed off the coast of Suffolk, with
onshore works commencing within days
of the financial close announcement last
November.
project updates
Europe
UK
VBMS Prepping for Pre-Lay Grapnel Run at Dudgeon OWF
VBMS will be carrying out a Pre-Lay Grapnel Run (PLGR) operation as part of the pre-
parations for the installation of the export
and array cables for the Dudgeon Offshore
Wind Farm, Kis-Orca reports.
The PLGR involves the vessel Anna-B towing a grapnel train arrangement over the
seabed. The grapnel wire pulling the grapnel train will have a length of at least 4-5
times the water depth.
The vessel follows the cable route to hook in
and recover all small debris like lost fishing
nets, ropes and wires from the seabed, fol-
lowing the centre line of the planned export cable route with a tolerance of 10m
to both sides of the planned export cable
route, giving a 20m corridor. This work is
done in order to clear the route prior to the
installation of the export cable.
The Anna-B will arrive on location at or
around 9 February 2016. The vessel will be
working in the area for an expected duration of maximum 28 days.
UK
Mainstream Raring to Build 450 MW Neart na Gaoithe OWF
Mainstream Renewable Power is in exclusive discussions with a consortium led by
power company InterGen to take its 450
MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm
to financial close and into construction.
The consortium also includes Siemens Project Ventures, The Marguerite Fund and Infrared Capital.
Speaking at the Scottish Renewables
Offshore Wind Conference in Glasgow,
Mainstream’s Chief Operating Officer Andy
Kinsella said: “This £2 billion pound infrastructure project has very significant benefits for Scotland. It will create over 500
jobs during construction and over 100
permanent jobs during the 25 year operational phase. More than £540 million will
be directly spent in Scotland during the
construction phase and a further £610m
will be spent during the operational phase.”
Located in the Outer Forth Estuary in the
North Sea, the Neart na Gaoithe offshore
wind farm secured a fifteen-year Contract
for Difference (CfD) from the UK’s National
Grid in March 2015, which gives the wind
farm an inflation-linked strike price for electricity producd.
“Neart na Gaoithe will generate the cheapest electricity from any offshore wind farm
in the UK. Several PPA offers have been received and are under negotiation for the
full output of the plant and for the full duration of the CfD contract. Our CfD strike price
of £114.38 is the lowest in the UK and between 18% and 26% below the FID enabling
CFD contracts previously awarded. This
Page 32
strongly underpins government policy of
driving the price of renewables down for
the benefit of consumers,” Kinsella said.
In October 2014, Scottish Ministers awarded
offshore planning consent and the project
is expected to be fully commissioned and
generating electricity by 2020, subject to
the outcome of a judicial review currently
under consideration by the Scottish courts.
“All the building blocks are now in place
to deliver this power plant into operation
by 2020; all consents have been received;
the CfD was awarded; the technology and
construction contractors are in place and,
very significantly, the required debt funding for the project has been sourced from
commercial banks,” Kinsella said.
project updates
Europe
UK
DONG Sells Half of Burbo Bank Extension to PKA, LEGO
DONG Energy has signed an agreement
to divest 50% of the Burbo Bank Extension
project to Danish pension provider PKA and
KIRKBI A/S, parent company of the LEGO
Group.
Furthermore, the developer will be responsible for the sale and delivery to the market
of the part of the production that is generated by PKA and KIRKBI A/S’s 50% ownership
share.
Each investor will obtain a 25% ownership interest in the project, and the total
purchase price amounts to approximately
GPB 660 million (DKK 6.6 billion) to be paid
in the period 2016-2017.
The 258MW UK offshore wind farm will be
constructed by DONG Energy with offshore
construction works commencing in the
spring 2016. The project is expected to be
fully commissioned in the first half of 2017.
DONG Energy will provide operation and
maintenance services to Burbo Bank Extension under a long-term O&M agreement.
Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, President and Chief
Executive Officer of the LEGO Group, said:
“This investment is another substantial step
for the LEGO Group towards balancing our
global energy consumption with renewable energy capacity. Our goal is to fulfil this
by 2020 and beyond as we want to make a
positive impact on the planet our children
will inherit – primarily by providing great
play experiences that inspire and develop
children, but also through our commitment
to the environment.”
The investment made by KIRKBI A/S, which
Page 33
owns 75% of the LEGO Group, is the second
major long-term investment within KIRKBI’s
strategic investment area – renewables. In
2012, KIRKBI A/S invested in the Borkum
Riffgrund 1 offshore wind farm.
This also marks PKA’s fifth investment in an
offshore wind farm, of which three are together with DONG Energy. The investment
is a part of PKA’s ambition to combine stable long-term returns with investments in
renewable energy.
Peter Damgaard Jensen, CEO at PKA, said:
“In the spring of 2015 we blacklisted 31 coal
companies, which have since lost more
than 60% of their value. In the same period,
the return on our offshore wind farms has
been more than 7%. The first investment
in a wind farm by PKA was Anholt offshore
wind farm in 2011 together with DONG
Energy, and today PKA has invested in five
offshore wind farms. Together they will provide renewable energy to about 2 million
households. We are proud to be able to
provide a good return to the pension savers and at the same time make a positive
difference.”
Burbo Bank Extension will consist of 32
turbines and will be the first large-scale
wind farm to deploy the new MHI Vestas
8.0 MW turbine. When completed Burbo
Bank Extension will be able to supply CO2free power equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of more than 230,000
households.
project updates
Europe
Northern Ireland
Fair Head Tidal targets summer for marine licence application
Fair Head Tidal is pressing on with plans to
submit its marine licence application this
summer for the proposed 100 MW tidal energy scheme off the north Antrim coast of
Northern Ireland.
The team behind the Fair Head Tidal Energy
Park has concluded a series of surveys both
offshore and onshore, with the results of
these surveys now being assessed before
they are included in the marine licence application to install an array of tidal turbines,
the company informed.
Fair Head Tidal Energy Park, a joint venture
created between DP Energy and Bluepower, proposes a 100 MW tidal energy pro-
ject that would power an estimated 70.000
Northern Irish homes by 2020.
Clodagh McGrath, DP Energy’s Project
Manager, said: “The Fair Head Tidal development strategy is to progress with a 100
MW offshore consent application and build
the project out in phases, planned to commence in 2018. In the last three years we
have engaged with a wide range of project
stakeholders including local communities
and government departments.”
McGrath added Fair Head Tidal would
continue the engagement process with
the public and stakeholders by setting up
more local open days this spring to share
details on the surveys completed, the proposed tidal energy technologies and how
the company’s plans to bring the energy
ashore and connect into the national electricity grid.
Atlantic Ocean
Xtera Completed the Marine Installation of Its Second Repeatered Subsea Cable System Project
Xtera Communications, Inc., a leading provider of high-capacity, cost-effective optical transport solutions, today announced
the completion of the marine installation of
its second repeatered submarine cable system that was deployed in the last quarter
of 2015 in the Atlantic Ocean. Xtera completed testing of all the fiber pairs between
the two landing sites in the fourth quarter
of 2015. All of Xtera’s work has been completed on schedule.
The approximately 1,500 km long cable
system is built with Xtera’s Raman-based
repeaters offering multiple optical transmission benefits, including wider spectrum,
better noise performance, longer repeater
spacing and higher tolerance to strong
increases in span loss compared with repeaters based on erbium-doped fiber amplifiers.
“This new repeatered project has been deployed after the successful upgrade of the
High capacity, Undersea Guernsey Opticalfiber (HUGO) subsea cable system connecting Porthcurno (UK), Guernsey (UK) and
Lannion (France), where Xtera’s next gene-
ration wideband repeaters were inserted
into the existing cable plant to increase system capacity,” said Stuart Barnes, Senior Vice
President and General Manager, Xtera Submarine Business. “Our innovative repeater
adds nicely to our portfolio of flexible solutions for building new subsea infrastructure, upgrading existing cable assets under
water, or recovering and re-laying existing
cable assets and confirms Xtera’s position
as a global turnkey supplier for the subsea
cable system industry.”
Xtera pioneered Raman optical amplification in long-haul optical transmission infrastructure with its Wise RamanTM solution
that offers unrivalled optical transmission
performances, unparalleled optical spectrum and operational excellence with a seamless integration of Raman amplification
into optical networks. In April 2013, Xtera
launched the industry’s first optical wideband repeater featuring Raman amplification for long-haul subsea cable systems.
The new repeater adds nicely to Xtera’s
turnkey solutions for building new subsea
cable systems or upgrading existing wet
Page 34
plant, including repeater replacement or
re-lay of decommissioned cable systems.
About Xtera Communications, Inc.
Xtera Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:
XCOM) is a leading provider of high-capacity, cost-effective optical transport solutions,
supporting the high growth in global demand for bandwidth. Xtera sells solutions
to telecommunications service providers,
content service providers, enterprises and
government entities worldwide. Xtera’s
proprietary Wise RamanTM optical amplification technology leads to capacity and
reach performance advantages over competitive products. Xtera’s solutions enable
costeffective capacity to meet customers’
bandwidth requirements of today and to
support their increasing bandwidth demand fueled by the development of data
centers and related cloud-based services.
For more information, visit www.xtera.com,
contact info@xtera.com or connect via LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
project updates
Europe
Portugal
Third-party cable fault keeps WindFloat 1 power off grid
Work is underway to repair a faulty cable
that has since late January kept power
generated by the pioneering WindFloat 1
(WF1) floating wind turbine from reaching
the Portuguese grid.
Greece – Cyprus - Israel
Survey vessel looking for best route for undersea power cable
A research and survey vessel began a reconnaissance study for the optimum route
for a proposed high-voltage subsea power
cable connecting Israel and Cyprus to the
European mainland.
The Italy-flagged Odin Finder, owned and
operated by Italian company GAS S.r.l, set
out from the port of Limassol.
The ship is equipped to carry out various
operations, including bathymetry, survey,
geotechnical and ROV surveys.
Mapping out the best route for the cable is
expected to be completed during this year.
The cable will have the capacity to transmit
2,000 MW of energy along its east-west cable, selling Israel Energy Corporation’s excess electricity production to Cyprus or any
other buyer further west.
The 1,518km-long subsea cable will connect Israel and Cyprus to southeast and western Europe to satisfy the continent’s need
for cheap electricity.
It will connect Israel with Cyprus, Cyprus
with Crete, and Crete with the Peloponnese, from where electricity supply can be
distributed to Greece or further afield.
Work on the initial 329-kilometre cable link
between Israel and Cyprus is expected to
begin in 2017 and be completed in 2019.
The second phase will connect the Greek
island of Crete to Attica in mainland Greece
in 2020 and the third and final phase will
connect the cable from Cyprus to Crete
with a view to full implementation of the
“electricity highway” by 2022.
Known as the EuroAsia InterConnector, the
project is initiated by the DEI-Quantum Energy joint venture, a partnership between
DEI, the public power corporation of Greece, and Quantum, operator of hydroelectric
and power stations in the Republic of Serbia.
Nasos Ktorides, chairman of the joint venture, was earlier quoted as saying the proPage 35
ject cost – €1.5bn – should be recouped in
four years and should earn €17.5bn throughout the life of the cable.
The project is included in the revised list of
195 Projects of Common Interest (PCI), issued on November 18 by the European Commission. It offers significant economic and
geopolitical benefits to the involved countries and contributes to the EU target for 10
per cent of electricity interconnection between member states.
According to local reports, the cable’s expected lifespan is estimated at 50 years.
Once fully completed, the cable will allow
for bi-directional transmission of electricity.
The partners have stressed the project’s
considerable significance, including ending
the energy isolation of Cyprus and paving
the way for cheaper electricity due to competition.
The Odin Finder is the same vessel which
in the summer of 2013 was carrying out
depth soundings as preparatory work for
the laying of fibre-optic cables. It was chartered by the Cyprus Telecommunications
Authority (CyTA).
According to reports at the time, the vessel
was intercepted by a Turkish warship while off the coast of Paphos and ordered to
retreat as it had ‘encroached’ into Turkey’s
continental shelf.
In 2011 Turkey signed a ‘continental shelf
delineation agreement’ with the breakaway regime in a purported effort to protect
the rights of Turkish Cypriots to the island’s
natural resources, while also serving to support Turkey’s argument against islands having any right to an EEZ.
project updates
Middle East
Saudi Arabia
Jan De Nul’s CLV Isaac Newton Heads to Its First Mission
8,500 tonnes have been loaded and will
now be transported and installed in one
single trip with Jan De Nul’s cable laying
vessel Isaac Ne
The Marjan GOSP’s project is the first project for the Isaac Newton.
Offshore contractor Jan De Nul will install
two 115 kV cables, supplied by Nexans Norway, for the Marjan Gas Oil Separation Plan
(GOSP’s) project executed by McDermott,
the company stated.
Both cables, with a total cable weight of
Page 36
The vessel is the latest addition to Jan De
Nul’s fleet and, according to the company,
it is the largest cable laying vessel of its kind,
capable to transport and install over 10,000
tonnes of cable per single trip.
The largest out of two carousels on board
has a carrying capacity up to 7,400 tonnes,
suited for transport and installation of the
longest and heaviest of the two cables,
with a length of 87 km and a weight of
7,300 tonnes.
project updates
Africa
Africa
SEACOM and Ciena Drive Web-scale Services across Africa
SEACOM is expanding its terrestrial network
and upgrading capacity on key submarine
links with Ciena® to deliver new network solutions to service providers across the continent and into main European points of presence (POPs). Ciena’s GeoMesh submarine
solution and converged packet optical platform equip SEACOM with a high-capacity
backbone that will bring high-performing
flexible services and content closer to its
enterprise and service provider customers.
Together, SEACOM and Ciena are supporting scalable connectivity to expand the African Internet, facilitating data services for
broadband, and enabling access to cloudbased web-scale applications.
Key Facts:
• SEACOM’s submarine and terrestrial
networks stretch across 17,000 km,
connecting Africa to Europe, Asia and
the Middle East. This expansion gives
SEACOM’s corporate and service provider customers the ability to expand
and grow their operations to support
the rise of cloud-based services and
applications, as well as facilitate growing requirements for the processing
and storage of data.
• These extended services allow
SEACOM to continue delivering affordable data connectivity to the African continent. SEACOM’s infrastructure is designed to grow and scale
as Africa continues to develop, and
investments in infrastructure will ultimately improve overall Internet access
and enable more digital, and associated economic, opportunities.
• With Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform underpinning its high-capacity
backbone, SEACOM can cost-effectively expand, optimise and seamlessly link its submarine and terrestrial
networks without disrupting existing
services. By adopting Ciena’s OPn
approach SEACOM’s network is also
scalable and able to adapt to accommodate future architectural possibilities.
• Ciena’s unified management capability gives SEACOM an end-to-end view
of its entire infrastructure, enabling
faster service turn-up and complete
visibility of network performance, as
well as fault management and remote
troubleshooting.
• This deployment reinforces the longstanding relationship between Ciena and SEACOM, the two companies
have been working together since
2013, when SEACOM upgraded its
submarine network across the Southern and Eastern African coastlines.
Executive Comments:
“Africa is experiencing massive growth and
demand for network services. With Ciena’s
technology supporting our infrastructure
evolution we can ensure cost-effective data
connectivity to end-customers across the
continent and internationally; ensuring that
Africa is ready for the next generation of applications and high-bandwidth broadband
Page 37
services.”
- Claes Segelberg, Chief Technology Officer at SEACOM
“For competitive providers like SEACOM
increasing network capacity efficiently and
economically is critical. With this expansion
and upgrade SEACOM can continue to its
great work and help lead Africa into the
next stage of ICT growth with scalable and
competitive connectivity solutions.”
- Ed McCormack, VP and General Manager, Submarine Systems at Ciena
About SEACOM
SEACOM launched Africa’s first broadband
submarine cable system along the eastern
and southern coastlines in 2009, bringing
with it a vast supply of high quality and affordable Internet bandwidth.
Since then, SEACOM has moved beyond
being a cable operator to become a major
pan-African service provider, offering a full
suite of resilient and scalable data services
that allow Africa’s growing ICT community
to develop and evolve.
Ranging from dedicated IPL transmission
services, flexible Ethernet services, to res(continues on p.38)
project updates
Africa
(continued)
Africa
SEACOM and Ciena Drive Web-scale Services across Africa
ilient IP Transit service capabilities and accessible Internet connectivity, SEACOM can
now provide tailor-made communication
solutions.
Today, SEACOM is the preferred partner for
African network carriers and service providers. Through its ownership of Africa’s most
extensive ICT data infrastructure - including
multiple subsea cables and a resilient, continent-wide IP-MPLS network – SEACOM
provides flexible, scalable and high-quality
communications services that enable the
growth of the continent’s economy.
SEACOM is privately owned and operated,
allowing the company the agility to rapidly
deploy new services, commercial structures
and infrastructure in response to customer
requirements. SEACOM is also able to provide true open-access services with no red
tape or hidden costs. For more information,
visit http://seacom.mu/
About Ciena
Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) is the network specialist. We collaborate with customers worldwide to unlock the strategic potential of
their networks and fundamentally change
the way they perform and compete. Ciena leverages its deep expertise in packet
and optical networking and distributed
software automation to deliver solutions
in alignment with its OPn architecture for
next-generation networks. We enable a
high-scale, programmable infrastructure
that can be controlled and adapted by
network-level applications, and provide
open interfaces to coordinate computing,
storage and network resources in a unified,
virtualized environment.
Africa/Middle East
Multiple cable faults in last week of January 2016
Multiple cable faults in the last week have
severely disrupted telecoms services across
Africa and the Middle East.
SEACOM disclosed that twin faults in Egypt
– one on the Northern Trans-Egypt route between Cairo and Alexandria and the
other on the Southern Trans-Egypt route
on the outskirts of Cairo – knocked out its
connectivity between Africa and Europe on
21 January.
Both events were caused by civil construction activity and were promptly repaired.
SEACOM services between Africa and Europe went offline again on 28 January,
after new faults were reported in Egypt.
‘SEACOM is experiencing multiple outages on the terrestrial network across Egypt.
All our international connectivity through
Egypt has been affected’, the company said
in a press release, adding that repair teams
have already arrived on site.
Meanwhile, an outage on a terrestrial link
in the UK – which connects the West Africa Cable System (WACS) landing station in
Highbridge (UK) with a data centre in London, led to a downtime along that route;
the fault affecting the path was fixed on
Thursday 28 January.
Elsewhere, UAE-based telco Du has announced that repair work on three dama-
Page 38
ged submarine cables – EIG, FEA and Falcon
– is currently underway, following multiple
cable cuts near Egypt on 23 January.
The company said: ‘As per the latest available information from the three affected
submarine cable operators – EIG, FEA and
Falcon – repair work is currently underway
in full swing’, adding that it may take longer
‘to accomplish the full scope of the required
work.’ The company highlighted that it has
re-routed traffic through alternative paths
while new cable paths were being added,
and that the fault will have ‘no financial impact’ on the company.
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Page 39
project updates
Asia
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan plans first Caspian offshore wind farm at 198MW
Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR is
planning to build the first offshore wind
farm in the Caspian Sea, consisting of 60
turbines with a combined capacity of
198MW.
above the sea level. The atlas has data on
wind speed and direction.
They recently released an atlas exclusive
to Tamil Nadu, which has the capacity to
generate more than 320 GW power. The
country has an overall capacity to generate
more than 5,400 GW wind power a year.
Apart from Tamil Nadu, states like Gujarat,
Kerala, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh
were identified as potential locations to set
up offshore farms and generate electricity.
Pilot projects for offshore wind farms have
already been launched in Gujarat, with
the setting up of sensors to measure wind
speed and direction. The project was launched based on an assessment report prepared by a consortium. India is already the
fifth biggest onshore wind energy developer in the world with an installed capacity
of more than 24,750 MW.
Tamil Nadu has an installed capacity of
7455MW the highest in the country. Worldwide installed capacity of offshore wind
projects is around 8,500 MW and of that,
around 4,500 MW is in from UK alone.
Purvaja Ramachandran, futuristic research
division, NCSCM said they prepared the atlas with 10 years of data on wind resource
potential. "Corals are all located at a depth
of 30 metres. We can go up to 200 nautical miles which is the exclusive economic
zone. But, within 12 nautical miles, we have
a huge potential," she said.
Unlike onshore wind farms, a detailed study of the sea depth is required for offshore
ones as it is vital for the installation of the
mast and functioning of the turbines.
India
Potential wind farm atlas ready
At a time when the country is looking to
tap renewable energy, city scientists have
developed an atlas of potential wind energy sites, including offshore ones, along the
7500-km coastline.
The atlas, prepared by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management
(NCSCM), will be a reference point for policy-makers and private companies to select
sites for investment to set up offshore wind
farms. Scientists have prepared the atlas by
identifying and excluding ecologically sensitive areas.
Researchers have assessed offshore wind
energy provisions along the coastline, up to
12 nautical miles. The farms can be set up
where the depth of the sea is between 30
and 200 metres.
The height of the structures will be 50m
AHMTEC GmbH • Bavinkstrasse 23 • 26789 Leer • Germany
+49 (0)491 20980 500
+49 (0)491 20980 509
www.ahmtec.de
Page 40
info@ahmtec.de
project updates
Asia
India
'Powerless' Elephanta Island to get electricity from I-Day
Nearly 1,200 residents of the Elephanta island, famous for its Hindu cave sculptures
and located around 10 km off Mumbai
coast, have a reason to cheer as Maharashtra government has decided to provide
electricity to this popular tourist destination
from August 15 this year.
The island, despite its proximity to the
country's financial capital and housing caves which were designated as a UNESCO
World Heritage site, is still without electricity, which make things difficult for its residents.
Maharashtra Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the government will lay
an underwater power cable network between mainland Mumbai and the island at a
cost of Rs 28 crore for electrification.
"For so many years, the inhabitants of Elephanta island have been living without proper power supply. Life comes to a standstill
on the island after sunset as there is no power supply," Bawankule said.
"The government has now decided to provide electricity supply to Elephanta island
as well as the Ajanta-Ellora caves. The state
cannot not let these internationally recognised tourist destinations remain without
power supply for this long," he said.
A power supply cable network will be laid
with technical assistance from US and UKbased companies. The cable will have a
brake-plate at the island and will be able
to withstand choppy seas and underwater
pressure, the Minister added.
The island has three villages namely Shet-
bandar, Morabandar and Rajbandar, of
which the last one is sort of a capital of the
island. The island on which the caves are
built was originally known as Gharapuri,
and the Portuguese retitled it as Elephanta
island when they discovered a large stone
structure of an Elephant on the island.
No tourists are allowed to stay on the island
after sunset. The first ferry to the island leaves to the island from Gateway of India at
12.30 pm, while the last ferry leaves at 5.30
pm.
The island, the population of which is estimated to be around 1,200, has an area of
about 16 sqkm and is located northeast
from Mumbai coast and comes under administrative jurisdiction of Raigad district.
Mauritius
Carnegie kicks-off Mauritius project
Australian wave energy developer Carnegie
Wave Energy has started its Mauritius wave
and microgrid design project.
The project, which will be delivered on
Mauritius and the neighboring island
of Rodrigues, will see Carnegie receive
Au$800,000 ($560,000) grant through a
partnership between the Australian and
Mauritian Governments.
Carnegie is expected to deliver study and
design activities for initiatives focused on
high penetration renewable energy microgrids that incorporate wave energy.
The total value of the design activities is
Au$990,000 ($717,000), and Carnegie will
contribute Au$190,000 ($130,000) of inkind and technical support.
The project is expected to deliver three
outcomes throughout 2016, including the
creation of renewable energy roadmap
for Mauritius, assessment of the Mauritian
wave energy resource and the identification of a preferred site for a commercial
CETO wave energy project, and the design
of a microgrid powered desalination plant
on the Mauritian island of Rodrigues.
Greg Allen, Chief Operating Officer, recently
convened the first project steering committee meeting in Mauritius. Allen, who was
joined by Carnegie Project Manager Neil de
Tisi, said the steering committee comprises
Page 41
members from the Mauritian Ministry of
Finance and Economic Development, the
Australian High Commission as well as the
Mauritian Research Council and Carnegie.
“The integration of a mix of renewable
technologies, along with storage and controls, can provide cheaper, clean and secure
solutions for island nations. It has been
pleasing to see the behind the scenes work
associated with developing this initiative
transform into an active project,” Allen said.
He added that Carnegie will now begin
the process of collecting and analysing the
relevant data that will form input into the
renewable energy roadmap.
“We will also make preparations for the deployment of a wave data collection buoy in
the coming months,” concluded Allen.
project updates
Asia
Sri Lanka - India
Sri Lanka-India power link pre-feasibility complete
Pre-feasibility studies for Sri Lanka India
HVDC transformation link have already
been done in collaboration with power grid
India and CEB, a senior official said.
“There is a big opportunity here,” Damitha
Kumarasinghe, director general of Public
Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka said.
“Now India is connected to Bangladesh,
Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka is the country
which is outside this grid at the moment
and there are power deficits at various time
intervals in both countries.”
He was speaking at the recently concluded
22nd Steering Committee Meeting of South Asia Forum for Infrastructure Regulation
(SAFIR) held in New Delhi, India.
This is originally planned for 500 MW which
can be upgradeable to 1000MW and it was
proposed to have this link from Madurai in
India to Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka with a 50
kilometer undersea cable at 400 KV.
“Large scale transmission network development is going on in India and attractive
peak prices have been observed in Indian
power exchange,”
“Also recently India and Sri Lanka have embarked on a very high growth on renewable energy and potential savings in spinning receive is a great advantage for both
countries,”
Sri Lanka have some coal power plants
planned already, one with NTPC India -500
MW while a 900 MW coal power plant is already in operation and a another coal po-
wer plant is proposed to be commissioned
in 2022 but our off peak load is about 900
MW at the moment.
So Kumarasinghe says that considering these coal power plants and increased renewable energy for the off peak load renewable
energy for the off peak load, interconnection with the region is very much useful.
We have large renewable energy potential
especially wind and solar in the Northern
part of the country which is very close proximity to India. So there should be a mechanism to harness and evacuate this power without any issue to the existing power
system, he added.
Philippines
ERC says attempt to link Mindanao and Visayas power grids failed
The attempt to connect Mindanao and
Visayas power grids by submarine cable
between Leyte and Surigao del Norte provinces failed due to “major obstacles” along
its path, the Energy Regulatory Commission
(ERC) told journalists.
Rexie Digal, Director of the ERC Regulatory
Operations Service said the attempt to lay
23 kilometers of underwater cables between Leyte in the Visayas and Surigao del
Norte in Mindanao failed when the technical team from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) ran into “major
obstacles” along its path.
Digal said the team reported that the path
of the underwater cable experienced an increase seismic activity that could break the
submarine cables.
He said the team also encountered numerous sunken ships along the path between the NGCP substations in Leyte and
Surigao del Norte.
“There are even unexploded bombs and
other ordnance left from World War 2,”
Dingal said.
He said the NGCP will try another route to
Page 42
link Mindanao and Visayas between Negros
Island and Dipolog City. The cost is estimated at P24 billion, inclusive of the feasibility
study.
The interconnection is part of Mindanao
Energy Plan 2012-2030 to provide standby
power to Mindanao from Visayas which has
an excess power supply.
As of Jan. 12, 2016, the NGCP reported Mindanao has only a thin power reserve of 70
megawatts compared to Visayas which had
296 megawatts of reserve electricity.
project updates
Asia
China
Rudong OWF Project Starts Producing Power
China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN)
reported that the 152 MW Rudong offshore
wind farm demonstration project started
producing power after the first six Siemens
4 MW turbines were connected to the grid.
The Rudong project is located some 25 kilometers east of Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, in water depths of around 15 meters.
The farm comprises 38 Siemens 4 MW turbines, and is the first project carried out in
accordance to the Double Ten standard issued by China’s State Oceanic Administrati-
on in 2011 which states that offshore wind
farms must be built at least 10 kilometers
from the shore and in depths of over 10
meters.
The first monopile at the wind farm was installed in late May 2015, and the first turbine was erected in September 2015.
Once completed, the wind farm is expected
to generate around 388 million KWh of power annually.
Japan
NEDO Backs Two Wind Farm Projects off Japan
Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO)
will subsidize portions of project costs related to the development of two offshore
wind farms with a combined capacity of
270MW.
The first project NEDO will back is a 170MW
offshore wind farm near the Port of Noshi-
ro, Akita Prefecture, developed by Marubeni
Corporation and Obayashi Corporation.
The second project is a 100MW wind farm
developed by Green Power Investment,
and situated within the Ishikari Bay, Hokkaido Prefecture.
NEDO will also assist the developers in assessing construction and operating costs,
gauging wind potential at the sites, and
performing environmental impact assessments.
The project is expected to accelerate commercialization of offshore wind power industry in Japan, NEDO said in a release.
The subsidies will be available to the developers until the Fiscal Year 2017.
K J MARITIME CORPORATION
YOUR AGENTS
FOR ALL MATTERS CONCERNING
CABLE LAYING
LOCAL LIAISON
PERMITS
LOGISTICS
MANPOWER ETC.
IN THE INDIAN SUB CONTINENT.
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E-MAIL: kjmc@vsnl.net
FAX NUMBER: (91-22) 22 02 26 41
Page 43
project updates
Asia
South Pacific Ocean
Bureau Veritas Greenlights Ocean Thermal Energy Converter Project
An international classification society, Bureau Veritas, has issued its first Approval in
Principle for an Ocean Thermal Energy Converter (OTEC).
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)
is a way to produce electricity from the difference of temperature between deep cold
and warm surface seawater. A working fluid
The approval applies to a 1MW plant developed by the Korea Research Institute
of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO)
which will be built for installation off the
coast of South Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati,
in the South Pacific Ocean.
is successively vaporised and condensed in
a thermodynamic cycle, with the gas phase
driving a turbo-alternator producing electricity.
KRISO’s 1MW OTEC plant is the first practical level of plant on a pathway to building
Page 44
a 100MW commercial system. It consists of
an octagonal 6,700 tonne four deck floating
platform 35 m across moored 6 km offshore
in a water depth of 1,300 m. A 1,000 m pipe
1.2 m in diameter will be used to pump
cool water up from the depths to be fed to
process plant on the platform.
Approval in Principle for Bureau Veritas
implies that the design is feasible, achievable, and contains no technological showstoppers that may prevent the design from
being matured and that the design is deemed to be suitable for use in the metocean
conditions that the unit facility will be located in. Bureau Veritas’ engineers verified
a metocean/hydrodynamics analysis, mooring analysis, stability analysis, and examination of the riser design and system design
concept.
Matthieu de Tugny, senior vice-president
and head of offshore, Bureau Veritas, said:
“OTEC technology offers the potential for
round-the-clock clean renewable energy
from the ocean. We are excited to deploy
our expertise in offshore energy, met-ocean studies and structures to help bring this
project which will deliver clean electricity
to remote areas to fruition.”
project updates
Australia
Australia - Tasmania
Tasmania power crisis: Labor urges homes, businesses to cut electricity consumption
The Tasmanian Opposition is urging
householders and business owners to reduce their electricity consumption as the
state's power woes worsen.
Labor leader Bryan Green said the state
could not afford to wait to take action while
water storages were dropping and the Bass
Strait undersea power cable remained outof-action due to a fault.
"We are in a crisis situation when it comes
to our dam levels and the fact that Basslink's
out," Mr Green said.
"If we face a fire situation, we don't light
fires, if we are facing a drought when it comes to water, we conserve water, there are
restrictions.
"We've got a very serious situation with our
dam levels, we ought to be thinking about
how we can conserve our hydro system as
much as we possibly can."
Hydro Tasmania's water storages have
dropped to 18.3 per cent and are expected
to get down to 14 per cent before the Basslink cable under Bass Strait is scheduled to
be repaired, which will allow power to be
imported from Victoria.
Basslink is hoping to repair the cable by
March 19, but is yet to confirm if it has located the exact location of the damaged
section that needs to be replaced.
The state's biggest power user, Bell Bay Aluminium, has already agreed to reduce its
consumption by 10 per cent for the next
five months.
The State Government has repeatedly assured the public there would be no need
for domestic power rationing, as it held
talks with major industry customers to cut
consumption.
But Mr Green accused Premier Will Hodgman and Energy Minister Matthew Groom
of being secretive and negligent, arguing
every Tasmanian can make a difference by
turning off switches.
"I think all Tasmanians would actively participate in that, if they knew the full story," Mr
Green said.
Premier pleads for second Basslink
Mr Hodgman will put the case for a second
undersea power cable to the Prime Minister
and federal Treasurer in April.
The State Government is hoping to secure
funding for a project it describes as "natio-
Page 45
nally significant infrastructure".
Mr Hodgman said a second cable would
ensure Tasmania did not find itself in another power crisis in the future.
"The Government is committed to increasing renewable generation in Tasmania,
and a second interconnector will not only
ensure greater energy security for Tasmania, it would allow greater opportunities
for Tasmania by encouraging investment in
our renewable energy sector," he said.
"This is nationally significant infrastructure
that would provide benefits to mainland
energy consumers."
In a statement, a spokesperson for Treasurer
Scott Morrison said the Tasmanian Government had said it would not use the Federal
Government's asset recycling initiative to
fund the project, which could cost more
than $1 billion.
"The asset recycling initiative remains open,
however the Tasmanian Government has
not, at this time, indicated it wishes to take
advantage of the program," the statement
said.
"The Government looks forward to discussing any such proposal from the Tasmanian Government on this issue."
Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the
State Government would not privatise assets to fund a new cable.
"We said very clearly prior to the last election that we have not got a privatisation
agenda. That remains," he said.
The Premier will meet with Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull and Mr Morrison at the
Joint Economic Council meeting in April,
and it is expected Mr Hodgman will use the
meeting to ask for funding assistance.
A feasibility study on a second cable is due
to be completed mid-year.
project updates
Australia
Australia - Tasmania
More back-up generators ordered because of delays in Basslink cable repair
Tasmania's Opposition believes the cost of
bringing in more back-up diesel generators
because of delays in repairing the Basslink
cable will be astronomical.
Basslink has yet to locate the fault on the
undersea cable to Victoria and has told the
market it cannot give a timeline for repairs.
The Government has doubled the number
of containerised diesel generators being
brought in to 200.
The problem was detected in mid-December and the fault was expected to be fixed
by about mid-March.
The Government has committed to supplying 100 megawatts of extra power using
diesel generators by March, and now an extra 100 by April.
Opposition
Leader
Bryan Green said the
cost to Hydro Tasmania
would be enormous.
"The cost of diesel generation will be astronomical on a monthby-month basis, which
will put enormous pressure on the finances of
the state and of course
the consumers," he said.
"The numbers are
changing all the time,
it's really hard to read
but their first decision,
with respect to an additional 100 megawatts
running for 12 hours a
day, we believe would
cost them about $14.5
million a month to operate. "
On Labor's figures the
total cost of the extra
200 megawatts of diesel generation would
be about $29 million a
month.
But the Tasmanian Government and Hydro Tasmania would not
say how much it would cost.
"Of course Tasmanians should be sensible
and prudent with their energy use, as they
are, Tasmanians place great care on ensuring that they use their energy sensibly, and
the Government of course would continue
to encourage them to do so," Energy Minister Matthew Groom said.
"Tamar Valley Power Station and new temporary energy generation will account for
what the Basslink power had been providing the state," he said.
He also said it was unclear if the additional
diesel generators would be used after the
cable was fixed to allow the dam levels to
rebuild.
Page 46
"They're judgements that need to be made,
so we need to continue to work with Hydro
Tasmania and all of the energy businesses
to make careful judgments about what
would be required to maintain energy security in Tasmania," he said.
Basslink homing in on fault
Basslink said the fault had been narrowed
down to three kilometres on the 300 kilometre undersea cable but poor visibility
was hampering repair efforts.
It said it was consulting experts around the
world and running a 24-hour operation
trying to fix the fault.
CEO Malcolm Eccles said the repair process
could not be rushed.
"Until we are confident of where we can cut
the cable, and it's imperative we cut the cable in the right place, we really cannot give
an end date," he said.
The Basslink fault has put pressure on power provider Hydro Tasmania which was already struggling to keep up with demand.
Record dry conditions across Tasmania
have left Hydro's dams at less than 19 per
cent capacity and they are expected to fall
further to 14 per cent.
But the Government does not expect the
dam levels to fall beyond that, despite the
extra delay.
Tasmanian Greens leader Cassy O'Connor
is urging the Government to release plans
for energy security beyond the short-term
solutions to the current power woes.
"To fire up the diesel generators, to fire up
Tamar Valley, they're very quick fixes, they're
not a plan to ensure energy security in the
medium to long term," she said.
"And we think that one of the best, most efficient and effective things that the Government can do right now is help Tasmanians
reduce their power consumption, and
contribute to helping in this situation, is to
invest in free energy efficiency to households," she said.
project updates
Australia
West Australia
Carnegie Wave Energy’s CETO 6 unit generating power in Western Australia
Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd., as part of its
US$46 million CETO 6 project, is generating
energy from a grid-connected CETO 6 unit
off the coast of Garden Island in Western
Australia, according to published reports.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency
(ARENA) said the unit will provide power for
HMAS Stirling, Australia’s largest naval base.
The CETO 6 system operates under water,
converting ocean wave energy into electricity and desalinated water. Each CETO
6 unit will have a targeted, nominal 1 MW
power capacity and transmit that power
onshore via subsea cable.
In 2014, Australia's Clean Energy Finance
Corp. (CEFC) provided a $18.2 million fiveyear loan facility to Carnegie, to help Carnegie accelerate the final stage of development for the CETO 6 generating system.
In November 2015 Carnegie and Commonwealth Bank of Australia completed a financing deal for a five-year $20 million loan
facility, replacing the existing loan facility
Carnegie had with CEFC.
“This progress is a clear example that given
Page 47
time, and with the right government support, emerging renewable energy technologies can progress along the innovation
chain towards commercialization,” said Ivor
Frischknecht, ARENA chief executive officer.
According to Carnegie, wave resources in
Western Australia, which has a population of about 2.5 million, are the best in the
world. The organization thinks, “theoretically, the resources that hit the coastline everyday could power the state 10-times over.”
project updates
North America
Prince Edward Island
Korea gets contract for part of P.E.I.'s new underwater power cable
LS Cable awarded a $54-million contract
for portion of biggest infrastructure project
since Confederation Bridge.
A Korean company has been handed part
of the task of carrying out perhaps the
biggest infrastructure project in P.E.I. since
Confederation Bridge was built.
LS Cable has been awarded a $54-million
contract for a portion of the project that
will see two huge, new electrical cables installed under the seabed of the Northumberland Strait.
The project, which was originally supposed
to take place this summer, will now begin
in October and should take two to three
weeks to complete, weather permitting.
Maritime Electric has already handed over a
$6-million down payment.
"We had to order that in advance and put a
deposit down or we'd never meet the timeline to meet it at the end of this year,'' said
Kim Griffin, corporate spokeswoman with
the utility.
"It was certainly a risk, but we felt that it was
really important.''
The environmental assessment part of
the project is still ongoing. If there are any
problems, Maritime Electric will simply put
things on hold.
The project involves 34 kilometres of submarine cable. The cable itself is about 10
inches in diameter, enabling it to carry a
significantly larger load, which will go from
200 megawatts of transfer capability to 560
with the four cables.
The install schedule was set following consultations with lobster fishermen. The fall
schedule is least disruptive to the fishery.
The existing cables are nearly 40 years old
and aren't buried very deeply in the strait.
Those cables are also filled with a type of oil
that has leaked in the past. The new ones
do not have oil and are filled instead with a
type of plastic.
The project, which is cost-shared between
the federal and provincial government, is
estimated to cost between $120 million
and $140 million. The previous federal go-
vernment committed $50 million.
There are a number of marine biologists
employed, as well as engineers, survey companies and people who are helping design
the cable, mapping the route and handling
changes that will need to be done to the
utility's substation in Borden-Carleton.
"For us, it's a pretty significant amount of
work. There are people working on this
full-time, year-round to try and make it happen.''
Griffin said the contract was awarded to
a Korean company because there are no
companies in North America able to make
the cable.
New scanning technology has identified a
possible river bed with a soft structure that
will allow the two new cables to be well buried this time around.
Electricity from the new cables should be
flowing by November or December.
Consumer electricity rates likely won't go
down but should be lower than without
the new cables.
Block Island
National Grid Kicks off Block Island OWF Connection Works
National Grid has begun working on the infrastructure that will connect the first American offshore wind farm to the network.
The utility, which will own and operate the
USD 107 million connection, has started
with test borings on both Block Island and
Rhode Island, where the onshore infrastructure will be built to connect Deepwater
Wind’s Block Island offshore wind farm to
the grid.
“We will soon begin construction of the
mainland underground conduit through
which a power line connected to the cable will run to a nearby switching station,
which will be built in the coming months,
and then to a distribution substation in our
system,” David Graves, National Grid’s spokesman stated.
Graves said that similar work will begin at
Block Island soon, where the wind farm’s
connecting cable will be linked to a switching station, which will also be built by
National Grid. From there, an underground
power cable will run to a new substation
where Block Island Power Co., the Island’s
power distribution company, will receive
power from the mainland.
The installation of a 20-mile (approx. 32 km)
Page 48
subsea cable that will connect Block Island
with the mainland will start in the spring,
and the project is scheduled to be completed in late 2016.
Deepwater Wind completed the first offshore construction season at the wind
farm’s site in November 2015, and will
commence work again in the spring, with
turbine installation set to take place in the
summer.
The offshore wind farm is expected to be
operational by the end of this year.
project updates
North America
New Jersey
New Jersey Governor Shelves Offshore Wind Bill
New Jersey governor Chris Christie chose
not to sign Senate Bill S-2711, which would
have instructed the New Jersey Board of
Public Utilities (BPU) to open a new window
for applications for small offshore wind projects off the coast of Atlantic City.
The bill, which got the green light from
the New Jersey’s Senate at the beginning of this month, would have allowed
Fishermen’s Energy to go forward with its
25MW offshore wind farm, earlier deemed
too expensive and non-viable by the BPU.
After the BPU had rejected the proposed
project, Fishermen’s Energy modified its
project proposal, saying it will use Siemens
4MW turbines and traditional sources of
project financing. The project now has a
$50 million funding agreement in place
with the US Department of Energy and
qualifies for the 30% Investment Tax Credit
signed into law late last year, Fishermen’s
Energy said.
Paul Gallagher, COO of Fishermen’s Energy,
stated: “This legislation was an expression
of frustration by the Legislature. Even without this legislation being enacted, the BPU
remains authorized by its own rules to open
a window, accept a new application, and
otherwise implement OWEDA [Offshore
Wind Economic Development Act].”
Chris Wissemann, CEO of Fishermen’s Energy said: “Now that the legislation is no lon-
Page 49
ger clouding the BPU’s authority, we expect
that the administration will support the
BPU opening up a new window to accept
an application to factually determine if offshore wind works for New Jersey especially now that the project brings more than
$100 million in Federal funding and more
than 500 jobs to New Jersey.”
Gallagher concluded: “With the Federal
funding in place the project can produce
power at a much lower price. Coupled with
Siemens turbines and traditional financing,
the project can address the BPU’s other stated concerns. It is worth a second look.”
project updates
North America
New Jersey
DONG Energy Takes Up another U.S. Offshore Wind Site
DONG Energy has agreed to take over RES
Americas Developments Inc.’s newly assigned development project rights for a
1,000MW wind site off the coast of New Jersey. The New Jersey lease is the second U.S.
lease area for DONG Energy. The acquisition
of the company’s first U.S. lease area, off the
coast of Massachusetts, was approved by
BOEM in June 2015.
At the offshore wind auction held by the U.S.
Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management (BOEM) on November
9, 2015, RES Americas Development Inc. secured the rights to develop one of the two
leases that were awarded.
The lease comprises an area that could potentially accommodate more than 1,000MW
of offshore wind.
Following approval from BOEM, the lease will
be taken over by DONG Energy. RES Americas will continue to support development of
the lease area as agreed with DONG Energy.
Samuel Leupold, Executive Vice President of
Wind Power, said: “The U.S. is an interesting
market for offshore wind with the potential
to become a significant area for future development. With the transfer of the offshore
wind development projects in the U.S., we
are broadening our international scope.
The site conditions are quite similar to those
we currently work with in North-Western Eu-
rope which means that the project could be
developed using well-known technology.”
The New Jersey lease has a total size of
160,480 acres and is located approximately
ten nautical miles offshore. The average water depth is approximately 25 meters.
New York
LS Cable wins $100m. contract for U.S. and Canada
LS Cable & System (LS C&S), the world's toptier cable manufacturer, has won an exclusive contract for undersea cable projects
worth $100 million (120 billion won) in the
U.S. and Canada.
Under the deal, the company will provide
undersea cables worth $47 million to the
New York Power Authority (NYPA). The project will allow LS Cable to supply cables for
Lake Champlain between New York and
Vermont. The cable manufacturer also recently won a $54 million contract to provide undersea cables for Canada's eastern
province of Prince Edward Island.
"LS Cable is successfully penetrating the
undersea cable market in North America, based on our decade-long expertise
as an extra-high voltage cable supplier
to the U.S.," Yoon Jae-in, president of the
company's American business unit, said.
The company said there is huge potential in
the U.S., with increasing demand to replace
the country's outdated power cables.
The lifecycle for an undersea cable is between 30 to 50 years.
LS Cable said the global undersea cable
market is expected to be worth about 8
trillion won by 2018, a two-fold increase
from 2016, amid rising demand for natural
resources development and inter-country
Page 50
electrical grid projects.
"We have a strong foothold in the Asian
market, and aim to diversify our revenue
channels not just into North America, but
into Europe and Africa too," an LS Cable official said.
The company recently won a $57 million
contract supplying 345-kilovolt underground power transmission cables to a U.S.
company. The cable manufacturer operates
Asia's largest undersea cable manufacturing facility in Gangwon Province.
The company makes power transmission
cables, undersea cables and electrical components.
project updates
North America
Pacific Ocean
Microsoft’s Project Natick Tests Datacenter Underwater
A team of Microsoft employees has been
testing underwater datacenter in the Pacific Ocean in 2015.
The datacenter, which consumed computing power equivalent to 300 desktop PCs,
was deployed inside a container.
The experiment, named Project Natick,
could use renewable energy sorces to get
the power needed for storing, processing
and/or distributing massive amounts of information.
Building of a vessel that housed the experimental datacenter took 90 days.
Once the vessel was submerged last August, the researchers monitored the container from their offices on Microsoft’s Redmond campus.
Using cameras and other sensors, they recorded data like temperature, humidity, the
amount of power being used for the system, even the speed of the current.
“Going under water could solve several problems by introducing a new power source,
greatly reducing cooling costs, closing the
distance to connected populations and
making it easier and faster to set up datacenters,” the company said.
Ben Cutler, Project Manager, said: “We take a
big whack at big problems, on a short-term
basis. We take a look at something from a
new angle, a different perspective, with a
willingness to challenge conventional wisdom.”
The team is currently planning the project’s
next phase, which could include a vessel
four times the size of the current container
with as much as 20 times the compute power. The team is also evaluating test sites for
the vessel, which could be in the water for
at least a year, deployed with a renewable
ocean energy source.
Meanwhile, the initial vessel is now back on
land, sitting in the lot of one of Microsoft’s
buildings.
“We’re learning how to reconfigure firmware and drivers for disk drives, to get longer life out of them. We’re managing power,
learning more about using less. These lessons will translate to better ways to operate
our datacenters. Even if we never do this
on a bigger scale, we’re learning so many
lessons,” said Peter Lee, corporate vice president of Microsoft Research NExT.
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project updates
North America
Bahamas
SST Completes Engineering Project for the US Navy
Sound & Sea Technology Inc. (SST) has recently completed the recovery, upgrade
and redeployment of an undersea acoustic
array which is part of a system the used by
the U.D. Navy for subsea acoustic measurements (Figure 1).
Figure 2. Map showing Andros Island, Bahamas and Tongue of the Ocean near location of the STAFAC array.
Figure 1. SST and Navy personnel recover STAFAC array in November, 2015.
The array is moored near The South Tongue
of the Ocean Acoustic Facility (STAFAC) on
Andros Island, Bahamas (Figure 2) and has
a tracking and communication system and
seafloor cable system for power and telemetry.
The system consists of two vertical high
gain measurement system (HGMS) array
structures moored in 4,000 feet of water; an
underwater tracking and communication
Figure 3. SST designed and built a 15-Ton A-frame
for the installation of the array system in 2008. The
same A-Frame was assembled and installed onto
the MV Shelia Bordelon for the STAFAC Refurbishment Operation.
system; and a seafloor cable system (with
shallow water junction box) for power and
telemetry from the United States Navy's Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center
Page 52
Figure 4. SST subcontracted the MV Shelia Bordelon
for the recovery and installation of the STAFAC
mooring
(AUTEC) shore facility on Andros Island to
the underwater array.
SST, with a Navy team, designed and installed the STAFAC mooring and mechanical
systems, including a large A-frame (Figure
3) and has conducted all of the operations
for maintenance and upgrades since 2008.
project updates
North America
Gulf of Mexico
McDermott Scoops Anadarko Subsea Gig
Lay Vessel 105 and North Ocean 102 are docked to support operations at McDermott’s spoolbase facility in
Gulfport, Mississippi.
McDermott has been awarded a subsea
umbilical and flowline installation contract
by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in
support of its Phase II development of the
Caesar/Tonga field located in the U.S. Gulf
of Mexico.
Caesar/Tonga Phase II is being developed
as a subsea tieback to the Anadarko-operated Constitution spar, located in Block
Green Canyon 726 and 727, with the new
development in approximately 5,000 feet
of water.
The scope covers:
• Project management;
• Engineering, fabrication and installation of two 7,700-feet-long Pipe-in-Pipe
(PIP) insulated rigid flowlines terminated by pipeline end terminations
(PLETs) on either end;
• Installation of one subsea manifold
and associated jumpers;
• Installation of a subsea control umbilical approximately 72,000-feet long and
associated flying leads;
• Pre-commissioning.
“The combination of our Pipe-in-Pipe experience, efficiency of the Lay Vessel 105
(LV105) and our Gulfport spoolbase led McDermott to secure this important contract
from Anadarko,” said Scott Munro. vice president for Americas, Europe and Africa, McDermott. “We appreciate Anadarko’s trust in
our experience and ability to deliver in the
Gulf of Mexico.”
McDermott’s operating center in Houston,
Texas, has started the overall project management and engineering.
The PIP flowlines are expected to be assembled and fabricated at McDermott’s spoolbase facility in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Offshore installation is expected to be
completed in late 2016 by the LV105,
McDermott’s deepwater rigid reel-lay
vessel, and by the North Ocean 102,
McDermott’s deepwater flexible lay vessel,
which is expected to complete the umbilical installation and subsea construction
scope of work.
“The lump sum contract award will be reflected in McDermott’s fourth quarter 2015
backlog,” the company said in a press release.
California
Hermosa Beach to serve four submarine cables
According to a Draft Environmental Impact
Report (DEIR) released recently, the city of
Hermosa Beach in Los Angeles, California
could serve as a landing site for up to four
submarine cables connecting the US coast
to a number of locations, including southeast Asia, China, Australia and Japan.
Under RAM Telecom International’s (RTI’)s
Transpacific Submarine Fibre Optic Cable
Systems project, the SEA-US cable (scheduled to be ready for service [RFS] by end2016) and a second fibre-optic network –
the planned China-US system – are both set
to land at the mooted 25th Street site. Two
Page 53
additional ‘cross-Pacific’ submarine networks are also projected to land at Hermosa
(25th Street or Neptune Avenue) between
2017-2020 and 2020-2025. The DEIR is open
for public comments until 17 February.
project updates
Caribbean
Caribbean
C&W Networks Selects Xtera for Upgrading Its Multiple Submarine Cable Systems to 100G Technology
C&W Networks, part of Cable & Wireless
Communications (CWC), the largest telecommunications service provider across
the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and
United States with more than 48,000 miles
of subsea fiber-optic network has selected
Xtera Communications, Inc., a leading provider of high-capacity, costeffective optical transport solutions, for upgrading its
submarine cable systems in the western
Atlantic ocean and the Caribbean Sea to
100G. By introducing Xtera’s 100G coherent
solution, C&W Networks continues to offer
robust services across 42 countries with superior reliability and scalability of international wholesale capacity.
C&W Networks has bolstered its subsea
network capacity by upgrading several
unrepeatered and repeatered segments
to 100G, using Xtera’s Nu-Wave OptimaTM
multi-purpose optical networking platform.
The submarine cable systems were upgraded with new 100G channels to include
the 1,570 km Gemini – Bermuda cable system, the 1,700 km Caribbean – US (CBUS)
cable system, the 1,700 km East West Cable
(EWC) system, the 1,440 km festoon Eastern
Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS), and part of
the 8,700 km ARCOS-1 submarine ring.
"The global build-out of data centers, coupled with rapid deployment of cloud-based
services, are driving renewed demand for
even higher fixed and burst rate connections with emphasis on high availability
through redundancy,” said Paul Scott, President of C&W Networks. “Our goal is to
proactively prepare our networks with the
right technology to efficiently address the
evolving business needs of today and the
future.
We are very excited to enhance our net-
work performance to100G and 100G+ and
Xtera was a natural choice for us.”
The same optical networking platform
was used over the unrepeatered and repeatered segments, enabling a unified,
seamless network from an operational perspective. For the upgrade of unrepeatered
segments, advanced 100G optical channel
technology combined with Xtera’s Wise
RamanTM solution raised the capacity to
multi terabits per second level even on the
longest unrepeatered segments (approaching 400 km spans). This combination of
technologies also enabled C&W Networks
to bypass some intermediate sites when no
local add/drop of 100G waves was needed,
eliminating the need for back-to-back terminal equipment as found in the previous
network design based on 10G optical channel technology.
“Strengthening our relationship with C&W
Networks, these new upgrade projects are
further evidence of the confidence network operators place in Xtera’s capabilities
to improve subsea optical transmission
infrastructure already deployed across the
world,” said Jon Hopper, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Xtera. “Upgrading existing subsea cable systems to increase their
Page 54
capacity and extend their lifetime – from a
capacity-cost perspective – is part of our
subsea solution portfolio, which includes
subsea cable recovery and re-lay, and as
well as new build.”
About C&W Networks
C&W Networks is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cable & Wireless Communications
and a wholesale telecommunications service provider that offers broadband, IP capacity and a growing portfolio of managed
services and integrated solutions to global,
regional and local telecom carriers, TV cable companies, Internet Service Providers
and Network Integrators. C&W Networks
operates the largest subsea multi-ring fibreoptic network throughout the greater
Caribbean, Central American and Andean
region along with the most comprehensive
fully meshed MPLS network in the region.
Reaching 42 countries, the company’s fully protected ringed submarine fibre optic
network spans more than 48,000km. Cable routes include the Caribbean Opticalring System (ARCOS-1), Colombia-Florida
Express (CFX-1), EC-Link cable system,
Fibralink, Maya 1, Eastern Caribbean Fiber Express (ECFS), Taino-Carib, East-West,
(continues on p. 55)
project updates
Caribbean
(continued)
Caribbean
C&W Networks Selects Xtera for Upgrading Its Multiple Submarine Cable Systems to 100G Technology
CaymanJamaica Fibre system, CaribbeanBermuda U.S (CBUS), Americas II, Gemini
Bermuda, Pan America (PAN-AM), Antillas 1
and Pacific Caribbean Cable System (PCCS).
For more information visit: www.cwnetworks.com.
About Cable & Wireless Communications
Cable & Wireless Communications Plc
(CWC) is a full service communications
and entertainment provider, operating in
the Caribbean and Latin America. With annual sales of over $2.4bn, it operates both
mobile and fixed networks, supported by
submarine and terrestrial optical fibre backhaul capacity. Through the acquisition of
Columbus International Inc. on 31 March
2015, CWC now delivers superior highspeed mobile data, broadband and video
services. It has leading market positions in
Mobile, Fixed Line, Broadband and Video
consumer offers.
Through its business division, CWC provides data centre hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and
customised IT service solutions, utilising
cloud technology to serve business and
government customers.
The company also operates a state-of-theart subsea fibre optic cable network that
spans more than 48,000 km – the most extensive in the region – as well as 38,000 km
of terrestrial fibre providing wholesale and
carrier backhaul capacity.
CWC has more than 7,200 employees serving over 6.3 million customers (Mobile
4.1m; Fixed Line 1.1m; Video 465k and
Broadband 680k) as well as over 125k corporate clients across 42 countries. The
Company’s leading brands include; LIME
and Flow in the Caribbean; BTC in The Bahamas; Mas Movil in Panama; C&W Business
and C&W Networks. CWC is the market leader in most products offered and territories
served. It is a major contributor to local
communities through its corporate social
responsibility programmes.
Cable & Wireless Communications’ shares
are quoted on the London Stock Exchange
under the ticker CWC. The company is
headquartered in London with its operational hub located in Miami, within close proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America.
For more information, please visit: www.
cwc.com.
About Xtera Communications, Inc.
Xtera Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:
XCOM) is a leading provider of high-capacity, cost-effective optical transport solutions,
supporting the high growth in global demand for bandwidth. Xtera sells solutions
to telecommunications service providers,
content service providers, enterprises and
government entities worldwide. Xtera’s
proprietary Wise RamanTM optical amplification technology leads to capacity and
reach performance advantages over competitive products. Xtera’s solutions enable
costeffective capacity to meet customers’
bandwidth requirements of today and to
support their increasing bandwidth demand fueled by the development of data
centers and related cloud-based services.
For more information, visit www.xtera.com,
contact info@xtera.com or connect via LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Cuba - US
Cuba – US cable under consideration
Cuba is reportedly interested in laying a
submarine cable linking Havana with Miami (US), according to Daniel Sepulveda, the
United States’ Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State and Coordinator for International
Communications and Policy Information.
TeleSemana quotes the official as saying
that the initiative would be useful in terms
of redundancy, lower latency and in cases
of emergency, adding that ‘communica-
Page 55
tions would be much more efficient if they
came from Miami, than if they come from
Venezuela’. Cuba is currently served by the
1,860km Alba-1 cable, which was built by
Alcatel-Lucent and deployed in 2011.
project updates
Caribbean
Cuba - US
UCT 1 - Unit of choice for GTMO cable landing
Dial-up internet, America Online (AOL), and
the sound of a modem connecting through
the phone line. These memories take us
back to the ‘90s with the birth of the World
Wide Web and 56kbps. To put that into perspective: at maximum speed which is rarely
attained, one poor quality song might have
taken 10 minutes to download; a movie
took 28 hours at best! Today, customers can
purchase fiber-optic services with access
speeds up to 500 Mbps, almost 9,000 times
the speeds from 20 years ago. With Verizon FIOS speed estimates, that same song
downloads in less than a second and the
movie in less than 15.
At Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
(GTMO) the current satellite broadband
network provides an experience reminiscent of the 1990s. Bandwidth limitations
plague the user’s experience. In the article,
"How does it work: Satellite Communications” written by Army Sgt. Saul Rosa, service managers claim that 50 percent of the
bandwidth can be affected by just 5 percent of users. In an attempt to prevent such
monopolization, users are automatically
logged off the network every four hours.
Traffic remains so heavy, however, that successfully downloading much of anything
within the four-hour time limit is virtually
impossible. Streaming video is equally as, if
not more, frustrating. Screens often buffer
until they time out and video quality diminishes beyond recognition. These days will
soon be over for residents of GTMO.
In November 2015, an eight-man detachment from Underwater Construction Team
One (UCT ONE), dubbed Construction Dive
Detachment Delta (CDD/D), completed the
landing of a fiber-optic cable running from
south Florida to GTMO’s windward side.
In a true team effort, UCT ONE CDD/A began initial site preparations in November
2014 by clearing the boulders from the
path. The Operations Department outlined
the scope of work and specific tasking at
the planning conference in May 2015. The
BR-87 underwater, the crew removed obstructions along the path to minimize cable
bend radii and suspensions over craggy
rocks.
final site visit took place in September during which points of contact and support
assistance were secured.
Defense Information System Agency (DISA)
funded the $40 million project who utilized
Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC) to coordinate with UCT ONE to conduct diving
operations and survey for the project.
Lt. Ross Penrod, from NAVFAC EXWC Dive
Locker, was responsible for coordinating
diving operations, support, and hydrographic and diver surveys at the GTMO shore
landing site. He spoke of the coordination
required and UCT’s role, ”(This was) a very
challenging project involving four different
commands and two different contractors
to come together and execute on a short
timeframe. The ability of the UCTs to provide crucial services in support of this project that provided a significant cost savings
over a contractor led effort, decreased the
complexity of working on a restricted Naval
Base such as Guantanamo Bay, and exercised a core UCT mission area to support a
high priority peacetime project.”
The cable landing consisted of four main
phases. Phase one, site preparation, included the clearing of the cable path on the
shoreline and in the water. To complete
this arduous task, CDD/D used underwater hydraulic tools to break large boulders
into smaller, manageable rocks. Operating
the BR-67 on shore while divers used the
Page 56
With the hydraulic tools weighing 67 and
87 pounds respectively, the work was both
physically and mentally challenging. In
extremely hot and humid conditions, the
shore crew battled with the heat and sun
while divers contended with leverage, stability, and the inherent dangers of diving
operations. The work was back breaking. Dives lasted up to two hours, much of which
was spent in water so cloudy with sediment
that divers were unable to see their hands
in front of their masks let alone the tools
they were operating. MK-20 full face masks
in scuba/AGA mode with through-water
communications were utilized to minimize
support equipment and maximize diver’s
freedom of mobility. By the end of this phase, the crew broke apart rocks as big as a
Volkswagen Beetle clearing several tons of
material. In the last task of the phase, scuba
divers built a gradual slope from the rocky
surf zone to the smooth sandy bottom nearly 200 feet off shore by individually placing rocks by hand.
project updates
Caribbean
Cuba - US
UCT 1 - Unit of choice for GTMO cable landing
Phase two consisted of placing a
1,400-pound ground plate and running the
ground cable ashore. The plate was loaded
on the bow ramp of a MK-8 boat with the
cable faked out on the deck. Once the cable was ran ashore, the plate was offloaded
with a 1,500-pound lift-bag attached. A
surface swimmer deflated the lift-bag just
enough to allow the plate to sink slowly to
the seafloor. Divers re-inflated the lift-bag
to orient the plate properly and placed the
ground cable in the desired location before
securing critical connection points with
concrete bags and rebar stakes.
Phase three. Two fiber-optic cables were
to be landed from the IT Intrepid: the primary to service GTMO and the stub to service Puerto Rico in the near future. One at
a time, the cables were transferred to from
the IT Intrepid to the tender that ferried
to the shore laying cable along the way. A
fast boat nudged the tender as needed to
keep it on line. After securing a three-point
moor, surface swimmers guided the cable
as a winch pulled it through conduit inland.
After both cables were secured, the IT Intrepid laid the stub cable 20 kilometers out to
sea while divers pulled slack from the shore
to place the cables in the optimal location
minimizing suspensions over and contact
with coral outcroppings.
Phase four began with the installation of
200 feet of split pipe on each cable. Surface
swimmers worked with divers to secure the
split pipe to the cables with nuts and bolts
installed in less than four hours. The longest
bottom time logged during this phase was
three hours and 46 minutes! The crew then
Page 57
marked GPS coordinates at each critical
location along each cable path from the
shoreline out to sea 800 meters reaching
depths of 70 feet of seawater. Lastly, divers collected video documentation of the
three cables’ as-laid conditions to serve as a
baseline for future inspections.
Dive Detachment Delta executed its critical
role in the GTMO cable landing project to
completion with precision and accuracy. In
typical UCT fashion, the job was executed
with a balanced combination of diving capabilities, physical labor and technological
assets. More than just alleviating buffer and
loading frustrations reminiscent of the early
‘90s, the improved access speeds that will
come with the fiber-optic upgrade will allow service members and residents to stay
connected with their friends and families
back home. Quality of life will improve and
morale with it. Underwater Construction
Team ONE is humbled by the opportunity
to positively affect the day to day lives of
those aboard Naval Station Guantanamo
Bay and looks forward to a similar contribution in Puerto Rico.
project updates
Caribbean
Martinique
MMT, Reach Subsea to Work on NEMO Project for DCNS
MMT has been awarded a contract for the
OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion)
NEMO project by DCNS.
The project is jointly developed by DCNS
and its partners with purpose to characterize the geophysical and geotechnical context of the area of an offshore power plant
with a floating platform and a potential ca-
ble route to the town of Bellefontaine in the
western coast of Martinique’s Island in the
French Caribbean.
This floating platform is anchored in the
sea and will use the temperature difference
between the warm water at the surface and
the cold water in the depths to produce
non-intermittent and carbon-free electricity.
MMT will conduct the survey with resources from the joint venture with Reach Subsea including the DP2 vessel Stril Explorer,
equipped with a work class ROV that is
mounted with a geophysical set up.
“This is an exciting project for us with interesting geology on volcano slopes in tropical waters. We look forward to safe and
fun operation together with DCNS,” says Karin Gunnesson, project manager, MMT
The project is scheduled for two month in
the first quarter of 2016.
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Page 58
Geophysical Surveys
Geotechnical Surveys
Burial Assessment Surveys
Charting and Reporting
Post Lay Cable Inspections
project updates
World
US - Europe
PCCW Global Picks AEConnect
PCCW Global, the international operating
division of Hong Kong’s HKT, has partnered
with Aqua Comms to deliver transatlantic
capacity on Aqua Comms’ America Europe
Connect (AEConnect) subsea fiber optic
cable system, which would enable PCCW
Global to obtain additional route diversity.
With more than 52 Tbps of available capacity, the AEConnect system utilizes optical
technologies, such as 130 x 100 Gbps per
fiber pair.
Greg Varisco, COO of Aqua Comms, said:
“Aqua Comms is pleased that PCCW Global
has selected AEConnect, our next-generation fiber optic cable system, to provide
low latency and high capacity connectivity
for its transatlantic backbone network between its New York and London Points of
Presence.”
Jordick Wong, senior vice president, Product and Vendor Management, PCCW
Global, said: “Aqua Comms’ AEConnect
provides additional capacity, reliability, and
security which PCCW Global integrates into
its global network thereby delivering new
low latency connectivity between New
York and London. We are confident that the
AEConnect cable system provides the upward scalability and performance necessary to satisfy our business objectives.”
Trans-Atlantic
Global Cloud Xchange Upgrades Transatlantic Route with Ciena
Global Cloud Xchange (GCX) has deployed
Ciena’s ® Packet Networking solutions to
enable high-capacity Ethernet services on
its transatlantic route. Extending from GCX’s
Cloud X location, a high-performance
enterprise-class node that serves as a strategic point of presence (POP) in London,
the route upgrade ensures seamless global
connectivity for international carriers, large multinational enterprises and new media customers. Leveraging Ciena’s packet
networking capabilities, GCX is facilitating
flexible, high-bandwidth connectivity for
global content and application distribution
and Internet connectivity, supporting critical business transactions, data-intensive
applications and high-bandwidth cloud
computing services.
Key Facts:
• GCX, a subsidiary of Reliance Commu-
nications, is an international integrated
communications solutions provider.
Its extensive, privately-owned subsea,
terrestrial and IP networks connect
most major telecommunications hubs
across the globe.
• Ciena’s 5160 enables GCX to provide
scalable 1G and 10G Ethernet business
services as part of its comprehensive
data communications portfolio. With
industry-leading 10G Ethernet density in a small footprint along with
zero-touch provisioning and flexible
transport options, the 5160 ensures
operational efficiency and accelerates
service turn-up.
• GCX is also utilizing Ciena’s advanced
management solutions for carrier-grade automated self-service activation,
creation, and management to optimize bandwidth utilization across their
Page 59
entire access and submarine network.
Ciena is also providing Enablement,
Fulfillment and Installation (EF&I) services via its Specialist Service portfolio.
• This deployment builds on a longstanding relationship between Ciena
and GCX (formerly Reliance Globalcom) who uses Ciena for its transatlantic subsea routes connecting London
to New York and India.
Executive Comments:
“GCX is committed to giving our customers
the flexibility to create, manage and connect their networks globally and we always
ensure that our network leads the industry
in technology and cost efficiency. We can
now further unify our global network with
the upgrades for seamless service delivery
along the critical transatlantic corridor to
help our global enterprises to transform
(continues on p.60)
project updates
World
(continued)
Trans-Atlantic
Global Cloud Xchange Upgrades Transatlantic Route with Ciena
and succeed in the digital economy.”
- Wilfred Kwan, Chief Operating Officer,
Reliance Communications (Enterprise)
and Global Cloud Exchange
“GCX sought to offer its customers 1GE and
10GE bandwidth connectivity with the flexibility to software configure and aggregate
traffic across the submarine cable, versus
directly connecting to end users to a router
port or SLTE. The aggregation capabilities
of Ciena's 5160 saves precious submarine
bandwidth while software provides a complete view of both the access and submarine networks on one system.”
- Anthony McLachlan, Vice President and
General Manager, Asia Pacific, Ciena
About Global Cloud Xchange
Global Cloud Xchange (GCX), a subsidia-
ry of Reliance Communications, offers a
comprehensive portfolio of solutions customized for carriers, enterprises and new
media companies. GCX owns the world’s
largest private undersea cable system spanning more than 67,000 route kms which,
seamlessly integrated with Reliance Communications’ 200,000 route kms of domestic optic fiber backbone, provides a robust
Global Service Delivery Platform. With connections to 40 key business markets worldwide spanning Asia, North America, Europe
and the Middle East, GCX delivers Managed
Services to more than 160 countries and
offer extensive VPLS-enabled Ethernet network capabilities globally. GCX is equipped
to support businesses through the deployment of next generation Enterprise solutions across its Cloud Delivery Networks.
Page 60
About Ciena
Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) is the network specialist. We collaborate with customers worldwide to unlock the strategic potential of
their networks and fundamentally change
the way they perform and compete. Ciena leverages its deep expertise in packet
and optical networking and distributed
software automation to deliver solutions
in alignment with its OPn architecture for
next-generation networks. We enable a
high-scale, programmable infrastructure
that can be controlled and adapted by
network-level applications, and provide
open interfaces to coordinate computing,
storage and network resources in a unified,
virtualized environment.
project updates
World
Asia – Africa - Europe
AAE-1 Consortium Selects Xtera for the Supply of Equipment Supporting the Terrestrial Segments of
Its 25,000 km Network
per fiber pair. Xtera’s flex-rate channel card
features integrated service protection, offering fast 50 ms protection switching and
enabling 99.999% service availability.
The Consortium behind the AsiaAfricaEurope 1 (AAE-1) submarine cable system
project and Xtera Communications, Inc.,
a leading provider of high-capacity, costeffective optical transport solutions, announced the signature of a supply contract
for equipping the three terrestrial segments
in the AAE-1 Network. AAE-1 submarine
cable system, scheduled for completion in
2016, is one of the largest consortium cable projects currently under way, extending
some 25,000 kilometers and connecting
Asia, the Middle East, East Africa and Europe. Xtera will equip the AAE-1 terrestrial
segments in Egypt, Thailand, Malaysia and
Singapore with its Wise RamanTM optical
amplification and flex-rate channel card
technologies, enabling 200G channels over
long distances. The Malaysia–Singapore
terrestrial segment will directly terminate in
two separate data centers in Singapore.
The AAE-1 consortium members include China Unicom, CIL, Djibouti Telecom,
Etisalat, GT5L, Mobily, Omantel, Ooredoo,
OTEGLOBE, PCCW Global, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL),
Reliance Jio, Retelit, Tele Yemen, Telecom
Egypt, TOT, Viettel, VTC and VNPT. The vision shared by all AAE-1 parties is to build a
seamless connection between Asia, Middle
East, Africa and Europe to meet insatiable
capacity needs. The AAE-1 Network is designed to offer an efficient use of capacity in
both subsea and terrestrial segments with
high availability and low latency to fulfill
this vision.
“We are proud to be part of a cable system
initiative that will provide additional empowerment for the economies of all the nations along its route. When completed before the end of this year, the AAE-1 network
will connect Hong Kong (SAR of China),
Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Oman,
UAE, Qatar, Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia,
Egypt, Greece, Italy and France,” said Mr.
Joseph Chan and Ms. Pan Ying, Co-chairs of
AAE-1 Management Committee. "The terrestrial routes across Thailand represent a
unique network design feature and will reduce latency between South East Asia and
India/Africa/Europe.”
Xtera offers a future-proof solution based
on its advanced Nu-Wave OptimaTM optical
networking platform combining 200G coherent technology, Wise RamanTM optical
amplification solution, and fast protection
switching. Each terrestrial segment is made
of two physically diverse routes supporting
minimum 18 Tbit/s cross-sectional capacity
Page 61
Xtera’s Nu-Wave OptimaTM optical networking platform
“Serving insatiable capacity needs, the terrestrial segments in AAE-1 submarine cable system need to maximize the capacity
per fiber pair with a high level of reliability.
This is exactly what our innovative optical
networking solutions offer and we are excited to be part of this deployment”, said
Jon Hopper, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Xtera. “Our Nu-Wave OptimaTM
optical networking platform uses the latest
coherent optical technology to offer the
level of capacity and reach performances
required for long-haul data center interconnect. Also offered is a high level of flexibility
at the equipment level so that service providers can seamlessly face unplanned capacity demands with minimal time to market
and additional investment.”
(continues on p.62)
project updates
World
(continued)
Asia – Africa - Europe
AAE-1 Consortium Selects Xtera for the Supply of Equipment Supporting the Terrestrial Segments of
Its 25,000 km Network
About Xtera Communications, Inc.
Xtera Communications, Inc. is a leading provider of high-capacity, cost-effective optical
transport solutions, supporting the high
growth in global demand for bandwidth.
Xtera sells solutions to telecommunications
service providers, content service providers,
enterprises and government entities worldwide. Xtera’s proprietary Wise RamanTM optical amplification technology leads to capacity and reach performance advantages
over competitive products. Xtera’s solutions
enable costeffective capacity to meet customers’ bandwidth requirements of today
and to support their increasing bandwidth
demand fueled by the development of data
centers and related cloud-based services.
For more information, visit www.xtera.com,
contact info@xtera.com or connect via LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
South East Asia – Middle East – Western Europe
Location of Landing Station unveiled
Sri Lanka Telecom (STL) has unveiled the
local landing station for the in-deployment
SeaMeWe-5 submarine cable, which will
link the Middle East with South East Asia
and Western Europe when completed.
The facility has been constructed in Matara,
a major city on the southern coast of the
Southern Province.
The new 20,000km international link will
have design capacity of 24Tbps and is scheduled to be ready for service (RFS) in No-
Page 62
vember 2016.
The SeaMeWe-5 cable will ultimately link
a total of 17 countries, namely: Indonesia,
Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, Pakistan, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey,
Italy and France.
Elsewhere, Telecom Italia Sparkle has revealed that the SeaMeWe-5 cable link to
the landing station in Catania (Sicily) –
which will act as the main hub of the Mediterranean – has been completed. The infrastructure, which is scheduled to be RFS by
the end of this year, will enhance existing
routes, allowing the diversification of traffic
between Europe and Asia. TI Sparkle’s connectivity solutions on the SeaMeWe-5 out
of Sicily will be available through its carrierneutral data centre – Sicily Hub – located
in Palermo.
project updates
World
Oman – Somalia - Ethiopia
Gulf to Africa, G2A, a New Groundbreaking Cable System
Omantel, the national operator of Oman
and the leading wholesale carrier in the
Middle East, announced the signing of the
supply agreement with Xtera Communications, Inc., a leading provider of highcapacity, cost-effective optical transport
solutions, for building yet another unique
submarine cable to strengthen its position
in the region and beyond. The new cable
will be built in partnership with Ethio Telecom, Golis Telecom and Telesom Company
and will be a direct highway from Salalah
in Oman to Bosaso in Puntland and Berbera
in Somaliland, with a terrestrial extension to
Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
“This is the first step on our expansion
journey into Africa where we will go from
Oman directly to Somalia and then extend
the cable further into Africa to Ethiopia,”
said Sohail Qadir, Vice President Omantel
Wholesale. “These two highly under-served
countries will soon be connected to our
international lowlatency network, gain access to all the content hosted in Oman with
Omantel and consume services from Europe and Southeast Asia,” continued Mr. Qadir.
G2A will be a new low-latency cable system
with the purpose of bringing content closer to end-users in Africa and providing Somalia and Ethiopia with much needed Internet capacity and access to global cloud
services and applications. The subsea part
will run from Salalah, Oman, to both Bosaso
in Somalia and Berbera in Somaliland. From
Salalah, a terrestrial route through Oman
will interconnect with all of Omantel’s nine
submarine cable systems, soon to be twelve, with some of them the largest in the
world connecting the Middle East with
the Far East, Europe and North America.
Omantel also hosts a wide range of content
and cloud providers in Oman serving the
Middle East region from their central hubs
in Oman, all which will be available to the
G2A system.
“This is a fascinating project, first of its kind,
where we will benefit from Omantel’s international network stretching around the
globe to bring tremendous change in the
region as access to high quality and affordable Internet services affects all aspects
of peoples’ lives and their way of thinking”,
said Mr. Abdikarim Mohamed Eid CEO of
Telesom Company. “At the same time we
will gain access to the main Internet hubs
in the world, the countries on Omantel’s international network will become available
through G2A to serve enterprise customers
in Eastern Africa”, added Mr. Andualem Admassie, CEO of Ethio Telecom.
Xtera will supply its turnkey 100G/100G+
submarine cable system solution for this
project, including subsea optical repeaters, Nu-Wave OptimaTM Submarine Line
Terminal Equipment (SLTE), cable and all
marine services. Xtera’s subsea repeaters,
Page 63
engineered around a number of electrical,
optical and mechanical innovations, use
Raman optical amplification to produce
very low noise levels for maximal repeater
spacing and offer wide spectrum for higher
system capacity.
“We are extremely pleased to be selected by
G2A consortium to build this new submarine cable system as a further validation of
our turnkey offering of high-performance,
high-reliability cable systems based on our
innovative repeater,” said Jon Hopper, President and Chief Executive Officer of Xtera.
“This new build project is a perfect illustration of Xtera’s innovative, flexible solutions
for deploying new subsea infrastructure or
upgrading existing cable assets under water.”
Designed for 20 Tbit/s of capacity with the
latest 100G technology, the G2A system will
optimize the connectivity costs in Africa
and add much needed capacity to an under-served and fast growing region. “Today
we are mainly relying on satellite communication for our Internet needs; G2A will dramatically change the end-user experience
and enable new types of low-latency services both for the residential and corporate
sectors”, said Mr. Abdulaziz Gureye Karshe,
Chairman of the Board of Golis.
G2A will be ready for service in Q4-2016.
About Omantel
Omantel is the pioneer of total communications solutions in the Sultanate of Oman
with the widest choice of state of the art
services with the broadest network coverage. As the only truly national network
in Oman, Omantel offer innovative end(continues on p.64)
project updates
World
(continued)
Oman – Somalia - Ethiopia
Gulf to Africa, G2A, a New Groundbreaking Cable System
to-end communication solutions serving
home, mobile and business customers.
In the international wholesale arena, Omantel is considered one of the most prominent and competitive wholesale telecommunication providers in the Middle East
region. In addition, it is one of the leading
companies in the field of submarine cable
networks and a key participant in several
submarine cables, complemented by direct
terrestrial links, which link Asia, Europe and
America passing through Oman to meet
the international capacity requirements
of customers locally and internationally,
thereby sustaining the Company’s leading
position among its competitors. Omantel’s
wholesale strategy is to be a carrier of carriers and to be the link between the East and
the West for the region and beyond.
About Ethio Telecom
Ethio Telecom that replaced Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) in March 2010 is one of the oldest telecom operators in Africa if not in the world. Established
in 1892 by the Ethiopian Government with
the objective of connecting Ethiopia to the
rest of the world, Ethio Telecom has undergone a massive transformation and modernization since 2005. The sole national operator, Ethio Telecom now plays a key role in
the on-going development of the Federal
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
Ethio Telecom is an integrated telecommunications solutions and service provider
offering internet, data, VAS, International
and voice services. Ethio telecom has experienced significant growth in terms of
customer base and revenues. By increasing
its customer base from 7.7 million in 2006
to 40+ million in 2015. Ethio telecom is the
2nd top operator in Africa and has gained
8 places in terms of customer base since it
entered to the African Top 10 in 2011. Ethio
Telecom currently provides telecom services in the entire country on both voice,
internet & data, channels, with comprehensive plans in place to meet the requirements
set out by the Federal democratic Republic
of Ethiopia and peoples of Ethiopia.
About Telesom
Telesom is the leading provider of telecom
services in Somaliland. The company was
established in February 2002 and has it is
headquarter in the capital Hargeisa. Telesom was the first company that introduced
GSM 2G/3G services in Somaliland. Since
it is establishment Telesom has seen a tremendous growth in both the number of
subscriptions and the services that it provides which includes voice, data and a variety
of other value added services.
The biggest and the most notable service
that Telesom has launched is its mobile Money Platform (ZAAD). The company is one
of the largest employers in the country and
one of the biggest contributors to the overall GDP growth of the country, the company takes a huge pride the provisioning of
it is services and the professionalism of it is
skilled work force.”
About Golis Telecom
Golis Telecom was founded in the year 2002
with the objective of providing the best
quality telecommunications and information products and services. The company's
service oriented schemes are committed
and dedicated to all the citizens of the coun-
Page 64
try. The variety of services include voice and
data services (fixed line, GSM, mobile internet- EDGE/3G), Sahal service (MMT) among
others. The other major service provided by
Golis Telecom is the electric power supply
operated by the company in many cities in
Puntland. Golis Telecom is the largest telecom operator in Puntland State of Somalia.
This is signified by the extensive network
coverage area where its services are being
provided in all major cities and districts of
Puntland State. The longest terrestrial fiber
optic (700+ km) in Somalia is being laid to
replace the microwave. The first milestone
(100 km) of the terrestrial cable is close to
completion. Golis Telecom sustains the largest market share in Puntland State of Somalia.
About Xtera Communications, Inc.
Xtera Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:
XCOM) is a leading provider of high-capacity, cost-effective optical transport solutions,
supporting the high growth in global demand for bandwidth. Xtera sells solutions
to telecommunications service providers,
content service providers, enterprises and
government entities worldwide. Xtera’s
proprietary Wise RamanTM optical amplification technology leads to capacity and
reach performance advantages over competitive products. Xtera’s solutions enable
cost-effective capacity to meet customers’
bandwidth requirements of today and to
support their increasing bandwidth demand fueled by the development of data
centers and related cloud-based services.
For more information, visit www.xtera.com,
contact info@xtera.com or connect via LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
project updates
World
Singapore – Malaysia – India – Sri Lanka – Oman - UAE
Undersea cable project reaches Chennai
An unusually large crowd gathered at the
shoreline near Srinivasapuram in Foreshore
Estate. They huddled there to watch excavators dig up deep pits on the coastline,
curious about why flipper-clad divers were
entering the waters and others on a small
boat were busy investigating this part of
the sea.What the onlookers did not know
was that these men were working on an
ambitious telecom project called `Bay of
Bengal Gateway' (BBG) to connect Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Chennai with
undersea optical fibre cable.
Neither did they picture how trillions of
bytes of information -images, data, music,
film, life-saving and life-making communication -would soon whoosh, laser-like, under the sea through the transoceanic cable.
Page 65
"The 8,000-km-long cable will link Malaysia
and Singapore with the Middle East and
will have connections reaching out to India
and Sri Lanka," an official at the site said. The
project is being carried out by a consortium that includes Vodafone, Omantel, Etisalat, Reliance Jio Infocom, Dialog Axiata and
Telekom Malaysia.Teams are digging 3-metre-deep pits through which the cables will
traverse underwater.
The team working in Chennai will move to
Mumbai shortly.The consortium has completed cable laying work in Malaysia and
Oman."In Chennai we began work and it
will take a week. The work is restricted to
this part of the shore," added the official.Reliance Industry Limited said the BBG subsea
cable system will in future extend across
Europe, Africa and Far East through interconnections with existing and new cable
systems in India and the Middle East.
project updates
World
Australia - Guam
Submarine cable cut lops Terabits off Australia's data bridge
The PPC-1 cable is out of service until March ... if a ship to fix it can be found
Another of the submarine cables connecting Australia to the world, for data, has
broken.
PPC-1, which stretches from Sydney to
Guam and has 1.92 terabits per second capacity, is out of service until at least March
7.
TPG's announcement says the fault is
around 4,590 km from the cable's Guam
landing, which means it's around 3,000 metres below the surface.
The fault notice says engineers first logged
a report that “alarms indicated that a submarine line card had lost its payload”, and
the company is trying to establish when a
repair ship can be dispatched to the location.
In the meantime, traffic is using alternate
routes including the Australia-Japan Cable
and Southern Cross.
Last year, the SeaMeWe-3 cable which runs
from Perth to Asia via Indonesia suffered
multiple outages.
The situation is complicated by the Basslink
cable outage. Repairing the electrical cable
connecting Tasmania to the mainland is
going to necessitate a visit by cable repair
ship the Ile de Re, because Basslink's communication fibre is going to be cut during
the operation.
The Ile de Re would be the default repair
ship for PPC-1, so there's likely to be a lot
of messages flying around working out
whether it can fit a trip to Guam into its
schedule, or if another ship has to be called
in.
Page 66
The cut also represents a challenge to PPC1's owner, TPG, as the telco and ISP has recently offered vastly increased download
allowances for its customers. That's the kind
of thing an integrated carrier that owns a
submarine cable can do. TPG's investors will
be hoping its also invested in lots of local
caching and contracts for backup bandwidth, as if it hasn't the cost of landing data
promised to users will soon stack up.
project updates
World
Australia - Hawaii
Infinera, Telstra Validate ACT on Endeavour Subsea Cable
has proven to be a major advantage in subsea operations, and the addition of next generation coherent processing provides an
important capacity boost. These capabilities
see us continue to exceed the demands of
our customers, and provide exceptional service levels across the Telstra Global Network
and North American region.”
Infinera and Telstra announced validation of
Infinera’s Advanced Coherent Toolkit (ACT)
for super-channels.
This technology would cover the Telstra Endeavour subsea cable stretching 9,000 kilometers between Sydney, Australia and Oahu,
Hawaii and extract the maximum capacity
from subsea and long haul terrestrial cable
systems carrying super-channels, the company explained.
In trials on a range of super-channel coherent modulation technologies conducted
late last year, two super-channel based
capabilities were demonstrated – Nyquist
subcarriers and Soft Decision Forward Error
Correction (SD-FEC) gain sharing.
The trial validated the benefit of Nyquist
subcarriers that have been shown in other
studies to offer around a 20 percent increase
in reach compared to single carrier transmission. In addition, the trial validated SD-FEC
gain sharing in which carriers with the highest performance can be paired with carriers with lower Optical Signal to Noise Ratio
(OSNR) to improve performance.
Other capabilities demonstrated as part
of this trial include a new Matrix Enhanced
Phase Shift Keying (ME-PSK) modulation
technique that surpasses Binary Phase Shift
Key (BPSK) reach performance; and the new,
high-gain SD-FEC algorithm, the company
said.
“The comprehensive modulation and compensation techniques in our Advanced
Coherent Toolkit enable individual carriers
and subcarriers in the super-channel to maximize the overall reach and capacity of the
customer’s fiber,” said Scott Jackson, VP of
Infinera’s Subsea Business Group. “For example, leveraging these techniques allows cables that previously could only support BPSK
to move to higher modulation formats in the
future, or support a mix of formats across carriers and subcarriers, for increased fiber capacity and a better return on the asset. This
next generation of coherent technology has
the potential to dramatically extend the useful life for existing cable systems while also
improving the performance of new cables.”
“With trans-Pacific traffic rising at 49 percent
annually, service providers can leverage these advances to help their business models
keep pace with downward pricing pressure. Infinera has one of the leading coherent
engineering teams and I applaud them for
developing these innovative optical techniques,” said Jackson.
Andy Lumsden, Head of Network Services,
Telstra Global Enterprise and Services said,
“The flexibility of PIC-based super-channels
Page 67
About Telstra
Telstra is a leading telecommunications
and technology company offering a wide
range of services globally, with a focus on
the Asia-Pacific region. Telstra’s heritage is
proudly Australian, but we have a longstanding international business. Today, we have
around 3,000 employees based in 22 countries outside of Australia providing services
to hundreds of business and government
customers.
Our customers are global, our people are local and our assets are anchored in Asia. Over
several decades we have established one
of the largest subsea cable networks in the
Asia-Pacific region, supplying wholesale and
enterprise customers around the world. We
also provide sophisticated network application services and have growing interests in
software, video delivery, online sales and ehealth.
About Infinera
Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) provides Intelligent
Transport Networks, enabling carriers, cloud
operators, governments and enterprises to
scale network bandwidth, accelerate service
innovation and simplify optical network operations. Infinera’s end-to-end packet-optical
portfolio is designed for long-haul, subsea,
datacenter interconnect and metro applications. Infinera’s unique large scale photonic
integrated circuits enable innovative optical
networking solutions for the most demanding networks. To learn more about Infinera
visit www.infinera.com, follow us on Twitter
@Infinera and read our latest blog posts at
blog.infinera.com.
project updates
World
Australia – New Zealand - US
Talks stalled for additional funding
Talks between Auckland-based Hawaiki
Cable and New York private equity firm Stonepeak International Partners with regards
to USD150 million of additional funding for
the construction of a trans-Pacific fibre-optic submarine link have reportedly stalled.
Work on the 13,127km fibre-optic cable –
which will link Australia, New Zealand and
the US with a number of South Pacific Islands and Hawaii – was initially scheduled
to commence in 2013, but the lack of capital has led to several delays, with the most
recent RFS date announced as Q3 2017.
Hawaiki’s CEO Remi Galasso revealed that
Hawaiki signed up a new ‘tier-1’ US telecoms company as a customer last month,
thus reducing the required equity funding for the deployment. Other customers
which have agreed to pre-buy capacity on
the cable include Vodafone and Crownowned research network operator REANNZ.
A similar project, the USD400 million Pacific
Fibre venture, collapsed in 2012 after failing
to secure the required funding.
Asia - US
AAG Taps Ciena to Add More Capacity to Trans-Pacific Network
providing AAG with accelerated revenue potential.
The Asia America Gateway (AAG) consortium recently upgraded its Asia and transPacific cable network leveraging Ciena’s®
GeoMesh submarine solutions. This will
allow AAG to meet growing demand for
international capacity. According to TeleGeography private networks share of total
used trans-Pacific bandwidth is forecasted
to grow by more than 50 percent in 2016.
Key Facts:
• AAG is a 20,000 km submarine communications cable system, connecting
Southeast Asia with the U.S. mainland,
across the Pacific Ocean via Guam and
Hawaii. It provides connectivity between Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand,
Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Hong
Kong SAR, Philippines, Guam, Hawaii
and the U.S. West Coast.
• With Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, powered by WaveLogic coherent
optics and Flexible Grid technology,
AAG can seamlessly add capacity and
cost-effectively extend the useful lifetime of its network. Additionally, Ciena’s
unified management capability is providing AAG with simple point-and-click
service provisioning to enable faster
service turn-up and end-to-end visibility of network performance.
• Ciena is also providing installation and
commissioning via its Specialist Services portfolio as part of this turnkey
project. These services expedited the
launch of the new network capacity,
Page 68
Executive Comments:
“Over the last year and a half we have seen
an immense growth in the demand for capacity from the AAG owners. By working
with Ciena and using their converged packet-optical solutions we have been able
to quickly and seamlessly upgrade our network.”
-Michael Costin, Chairman of the AAG
Management Committee
“Submarine operators across the globe are
experiencing surging demand for bandwidth thanks to the increasing pressure
from web-scale providers and bandwidthhungry services like cloud computing, mobile connectivity and HD video. Ciena’s GeoMesh submarine solutions and WaveLogic
technology help leading providers like AAG
to quickly and cost-effectively boost network capacities on existing and new cables.”
- Anthony McLachlan, Vice President and
General Manager, Asia Pacific, Ciena
About Asia America Gateway (AAG)
AAG is a 20,000 km submarine cable net(continues on p.69)
project updates
World
(continued)
Asia - US
AAG Taps Ciena to Add More Capacity to Trans-Pacific Network
work providing connectivity from South
East Asia to the USA West Coast and is owned and operated by a consortium of telecommunications companies.
About Ciena
Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) is the network specialist. We collaborate with customers world-
wide to unlock the strategic potential of
their networks and fundamentally change
the way they perform and compete. Ciena leverages its deep expertise in packet
and optical networking and distributed
software automation to deliver solutions
in alignment with its OPn architecture for
next-generation networks. We enable a
high-scale, programmable infrastructure
that can be controlled and adapted by
network-level applications, and provide
open interfaces to coordinate computing,
storage and network resources in a unified,
virtualized environment.
Trans-Pacific
Trans-Pacific submarine cable within three years
New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and Trade (MFAT) and the governments of
the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and French
Polynesia have agreed to deploy a new submarine cable across the Pacific within three
years, following discussions in Auckland.
The ministry intends to present the Pacific
nations with ‘solutions for a submarine cable and satellite infrastructure’ by August
2016, while also pledging to ‘facilitate the
planning and development phases of the
project’. Cook Islands finance minister Mark
Brown meanwhile was cited as saying that
the ‘most viable’ options to improve internet access in the region were presented
by submarine operators Hawaiki Cable and
BlueSky.
Auckland-based Hawaiki is aiming to deploy a 13,127km fibre-optic cable linking
Australia, New Zealand and the US with a
number of South Pacific Islands and Hawaii,
though the lack of capital has led to several
deployment delays. For its part, BlueSky’s
Moana Cable – which is scheduled to be
completed in 2018 – is aiming to connect
New Zealand to Hawaii, while also serving
Samoa, American Samoa and the Cook Islands.
strengthening the information and interconnectivity infrastructure, policy exchange
and cooperation in the area of Internet Plus,
for the development of industry and production with the use of the internet.
Another key point is the preparation of a
study to assess the feasibility of connec-
ting Chile to China through a trans-Pacific
fibre optic cable. The MoU also foresees the
promotion of exchange in emerging areas
such as cloud computing, IoT, big data, ecommerce, digital TV, Smart cities, mobile
communications, space and satellites.
Chile - China
Chile, China sign ICT agreement
Chile and China have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for ICT cooperation,
expecting to strengthen the various lines of
action taking place in Chile by the Department of Telecommunications (Subtel) and
initiatives such as the Digital Agenda 2020.
The agreement covers areas such as
Page 69
project updates
World
US – Hawaii – Guam – Indonesia - Philippines
UH expands global network capacity with RTI partnership
RAM Telecom International, Inc. (RTI) and
the University of Hawaii System has signed
a multi-year, multimillion dollar IRU agreement to supply transpacific fiber system
capacity to the university.
cond state-of-the-art ultra long haul optical
fiber transmission technology.
UH President David Lassner said, “RTI will
enable UH to significantly expand its global
network capacity and enhance our connec-
RTI will provide the capacity on the Southeast Asia-United States cable system
(SEA-US). Upon its completion targeted for
end of 2016, SEA-US will link five areas and
territories including Oahu (Hawaii), downtown Los Angeles (California), Piti (Guam),
Manado (Indonesia) and Davao (Philippines). SEA-US is among the first transoceanic cables deploying 100 gigabits per se-
tions with our national and international
peers. This capacity is critical to ensure that
our academic community can both lead
and participate in international large scale,
leading edge research and collaboration
efforts.”
Russ Matulich, chief executive officer of
RTI stated, “The University of Hawaii has
won numerous awards for excellence in re-
Page 70
search. RTI strongly supports research and
development efforts in academia and we
are excited that our 100G technology will
contribute to UH’s ongoing success.”
Garret Yoshimi, vice president for information technology and chief information officer
of UH added, “The increase in bandwidth
to 100G technology provided by RTI will
enable researchers and educators at UH to
take the first steps towards participating in
many new research and education efforts.
These high capacity connections are critical to supporting UH’s effective leadership
and participation in national and global science efforts that require very large datasets
transported between computational and
visualization nodes in real-time or near-realtime.”
In a recent PBN article, UH Spokesman Dan
Meisenzahl said, “Funding was provided by
the Legislature a few years ago specifically
to acquire capacity between Hawaii and
the Mainland. We did a specialized and fully
competitive procurement, and got to execute contracts in mid-2015. Our deal is a 25
year Indefeasible Right of Use contract at
$5.9 million, although we encumbered the
full $6 million for contingency.”
project updates
World
US – Hawaii – Guam – Indonesia - Philippines
RTI and Bluesky Pacific Group to Provide Seamless Connectivity Between US, Hawaii, Guam, Samoa,
American Samoa, New Zealand, and Key Asian Destinations
RAM Telecom International, Inc. “RTI” announces collaboration with Bluesky Pacific
Group, a subsidiary of Amper SA, to interconnect the Southeast Asia - United States
“SEA-US” Cable system with Bluesky Pacific
Group’s Moana Cable system.
RTI and Bluesky Pacific Group intend to
connect their cable investments to provide end-to-end connectivity to the US West
Coast, Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, American Samoa, New Zealand, and key Asian destinations.
When completed, the agreement will optimize connectivity between the SEA-US
and Moana Cable systems, bringing their
respective customers superior access to
global content.
RTI will provide Bluesky Pacific Group with
interconnection to SEA-US.
Upon its anticipated completion at the end
of 2016, SEA-US will link five areas and territories including Oahu (Hawaii), downtown
Los Angeles (California), Piti (Guam), Davao
(Philippines), and Manado (Indonesia).
The SEA-US cable is among the first transoceanic cables deploying 100 gigabits per
second state-of-the-art ultra long haul optical fiber transmission technology.
Bluesky Pacific Group will provide RTI interconnection to its Moana Cable to deliver
content at faster speeds to key island destinations, as well as onward connectivity to
New Zealand. Upon its completion, which
is targeted for 2018, the Moana Cable system will link New Zealand and Hawaii, serving Samoa and American Samoa, with a
second segment also linking the Cook Islands to Samoa.
The Moana Cable will be the first long haul
submarine cables in the Pacific Islands region relying on the latest innovative 200 gigabits per second optical fiber transmission
technology.
Adolfo Montenegro, Executive Committee
Member of Amper and Group Chief Executive Officer of Bluesky Pacific Group said,
“The Moana Cable will enable providers in
Samoa, American Samoa, and surrounding
island nations to equip our enterprise and
consumer customers with the fastest and
most reliable access to global content.
Our customers need and deserve the latest technological advancements that help
them access the Internet faster and more
cost effectively. Once completed, the Moana Cable system will deliver the most efficient solution available.”
Russ Matulich, Chief Executive Officer of RTI
stated, “Bluesky’s investment in the Moana
Cable is essential to increased economic
benefit to the entire region. RTI is pleased
to provide the Moana Cable with onward
connectivity from Hawaii to California, as
well as Hawaii to Guam, and key Asian desti-
nations. We look forward not only to maximizing each of our strategic assets, but also
to expanding our relationship to serve new
markets already in the planning stages.”
About RTI
RTI is a leading neutral cable owner and
develops global telecom infrastructure and
large-scale data connectivity in selected
markets. RTI offers its neutral products and
services to telecommunications carriers, large multinational enterprises, content providers, US government and American educational institutions. RTI is headquartered in
San Francisco, California. Learn more about
RTI at www.rticable.com
About Amper S.A. / Bluesky Pacific
Group
The Bluesky Pacific Group is a majority owned subsidiary of Amper SA. Bluesky Pacific
Group is a leading regional telecommunications provider in the Pacific operating in
Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands and
New Zealand. The Group includes American Samoa Hawaii Cable, LLC, which owns
and operates ASH Cable, from American Samoa to Hawaii, and SAS Cable connecting
Samoa to American Samoa. ASH Cable LLC
holds FCC licenses for landing cable in Hawaii and American Samoa and also holds a
Samoa Submarine Cable Landing license
US - Brazil
Seabras-1 USA applied for landing licence
Seabras-1 USA has applied for a licence to
land and operate a fibre-optic submarine
cable – connecting Praia Grande (Brazil)
with Avon-by-the-Sea (New Jersey, US) –
within the US. The company is planning
to commence commercial services on
the Seabras-1 route in Q2 2017.
Seabras-1 USA – which will operate the cable system on a non-common-carrier basis
by providing bulk capacity to customers on
Page 71
particularised terms and conditions pursuant to individualised negotiations – has observed that ‘a timely grant of a cable landing
licence by the Commission no later than
September 2016 of paramount importance.’
Special Report
POWERING UP: THE POWERCAB JIP
BPP-Cables managed the
PowerCab Joint Industry Project
(JIP) on behalf of the four
participating companies: BG
Group; BP Exploration; DUCO
(Technip) and Shell UK.
The PowerCab JIP Work Programme
concerns the development of
subsea electrical power cable
designs with high dynamic loading
capacity. The project was carried
out in two phases, both of which
have been successfully completed.
High capacity subsea power cables
and transmission systems are
becoming increasingly required in
the oil and gas industry for subsea
electrical power transmission to
and from offshore installations,
electrically heated pipelines
(especially in the ultra deepwater
fields), multiphase pumps, as well
as subsea processing including all
electric subsea technology (electric
trees and control systems).
Power cables for subsea processing
are required in conjunction with
offshore oil and gas fields that are
typically long distances from
existing infrastructure.
PHASE 1
The objectives of PowerCab Phase
One were to undertake analysis,
material selection and testing, to
arrive at the design of a range of
electrical power cables with the
capacity to deliver an exceptionally
high dynamic fatigue loading
performance.
The PowerCab Phase One work
programme was divided into four
prime work packages:
 development of candidate cross
sections for static mechanical
and thermal performance
 testing of conductor materials for
fatigue Life
 evaluation of candidate designs
for dynamic performance
 cross section and performance
definition of optimum cable
designs
PHASE 2
The headline goals for PowerCab
Phase Two included the design
optimisation of a lightweight
100MW, 132kV, 525A rated cable
with an extended dynamic fatigue
life. A prototype cable was
manufactured and fatigue tested.
The partners gave their approval.
The availability of reliable high
capacity subsea power cables and
transmission systems offers the
prospects for transforming the
economics of offshore oil and gas
fields and power generation
projects.
cables@bpp-cables.com
The technology will enhance the
capability of conventional and high
capacity subsea power cables to
draw economic benefits from
offshore field developments and
power generation schemes.
Benefits of the PowerCab project
will accrue both on a short-term
economic level and for long term
strategic technology options.
Examples include the removal of
power generation equipment on
offshore platforms, as well as the
use of remote gas for power
generation and for transmission of
gas to the customer.
www.bpp-cables.com
1
Page 72
Special Report
VARIOUS SOIL/MECHANICAL TRENCHER
Page 73
AssoTrencher IV currently on its sixth version is built for the purpose of
executing burial works in soils and conditions where three factors coexist;
 Very hard soils,
 Uneven territories
 Limited slack available to the cable(s).
Its unique design and method of operation, enables the loading and
securing of heavy cables on the vehicle, without reducing its’ ability to
maneuver or perform effectively the trenching operation.
AssoTrencher IV as the entire ”AssoTrencher“ family vehicle, uses high
end technology to show the operator and record all crucial information
necessary to accumulate the condition of the vehicle and the cable.
Although its’ long dimensions, AssoTrencher IV is able to maneuver
effectively in rough territories and to withstand the extraordinary
shear forces and tensions resulting from trenching in areas full of rocks
and boulders.
Different tooling options is a new feature of this vehicle to enable
burial to increased burial depth requirements
SPECIFICATION SHEET
(continues on p. 74)
(continued )
Length:
Breadth:
Height:
Weight:
Depth rating:
CABLE LOADING SYSTEM
12.30 m
4.58 m
4.30 m
29,000 kg
400m
TOOL OPTIONS
Cutting Wheel
Used in hard soils (rock, hard clay, cemented soil)
Diameter:
2.5 m
Burial depth:
1.6m
Page 74
Cutting Chain
Used in hard soils (hard clay)
Length:
3.7 m
Burial depth:
2.6 m
(other burial tools from the Assotrencher Series
vehicles tooling accessories also available)
Assodivers Ltd
69 Okeanidon str. & 38
Charilaou Trikoupi str.
Elefsina, GR 19200,
Greece
Tel: (+30) 210 4527050
Fax: (+30) 210 4527053
central@assodivers.gr
www.assodivers.gr
SPECIFICATION SHEET
A system of three (3) remotely operated loaders is fitted
onto the vehicle for loading the underwater cable(s) to
be protected.
Monitoring of the vehicle and recording is done from PCbased software with graphic user-friendly display(s)
providing a true an accurate representation of the
vehicle condition, even in low or zero visibility
conditions.
Once the loaders have successfully picked up the
cable(s) a system of two (2) doors assists in securing the
cable path along the vehicle.
Back-up systems are also installed for handling
emergency situations.
This system is diver less and utilized these specially
made loaders/doors installed on the lower part of the
vehicle for bottom–loading cable(s) techniques that
require as little slack as possible.
Cable safety is always monitored by redundant systems
and fail safe devices. Automatic release and hazard
identification systems are always applied to ensure
smooth and proper product protection.
POWER STATION
A container fitted with new technology medium voltage
fields, inverters and the necessary safety measures for
the powering of the vehicle is used and installed nearby
the generating sets. This container is remotely
controlled and monitored from the control room
container.
Special Report
SPECIFICATIONS
SENSOR EQUIPMENT










Up to 12 x low light cameras
Up to 12 x LED high intensity fully dimmable lights
Up to 5 x electric pan/tilt units
Up to 4 x imaging or profiling sonar
1 x 2D Blueview multibeam sonar
Capability for MBES
1 x Digiquartz depth sensor
1 x C-100 Magnetic compass
1 x CDL TOGS/NAV FOG
Cable tracker TSS 350 or TSS 440 available
CONTROL ROOM
The control system of the vehicle is installed in a
standard 20ft container, properly insulated and designed
to provide control to any Assotrencher standard series
vehicle.
Inside this control room all the necessary controls,
monitors (video and VGA), recording devices and
powering arrangements are installed in an
ergonomically structured manner, while uplink outputs
are available for the connection of the control room to
the remote viewing stations on the support vessel.
Network and communication uplinks are also arranged
to collect, display and record data from any supporting
system installed on the vessel.
The specification details are illustrative for
marketing purposes only. Actual equipment may
be different as a result of product improvement
or other reasons. Specific interface and
performance information should be reconfirmed
at time of order placement. Specifications are
subject to change without any prior notification.
Company news
ABB
ABB’s Octopus for Ultra Deep’s Newbuilds
ABB will provide the technology that
would help three vessels safely carry out
construction and maintenance tasks up to
5 kilometers under water, the company said
Monday.
Namely, the vessels will be equipped with
ABB’s OCTOPUS software that uses sensors
and the Internet of Things, Services and
People (IoTSP) to interpret weather conditions, allowing the crew to make informed
decisions during sensitive operations.
The ships will be built for Ultra Deep Solutions at CSIC Huangpu Wuchang Shipbuilding Company and China Merchants Heavy
Industry. The largest vessel’s apparatus will
include two remotely operated underwater vessels (ROVs), that will dive up to 3000
meters, and a 400-ton crane that can drop
5 200 meters. It will measure 142 meters in
length. Juha Koskela, managing director of
ABB’s Marine and Ports business, said: “The
broad scope of supply we have on these
vessels is a demonstration of the wide range of solutions we have to offer the maritime sector. These vessels will benefit from
some of the most established software and
hardware technologies in the shipping industry.” The vessels will also feature ABB generators, motors, drives and switchboards.
Jithu Sukumaran Nair, general manager of
shipbuilding at Ultra Deep Solutions, said:
“We are proud to be the first offshore vessel
operator in the world to install the OCTOPUS weather monitoring system on board
high tech dive vessels”
Primo Marine is an independent specialist with a
wealth of expertise in subsea cabling engineering,
from landfalls to subsea marine infrastructures, with
an extensive track record in many of the largest
European installation projects to date. We provide
the full spectrum of Onshore and Offshore expertise
ranging from Engineering (front end concept, design
and installation) to Project and QHSE Management,
Construction Support and Client Representation. We
provide industry leading solutions to all installation
challenges, throughout the lifecycle of the project,
by combing real theoretical knowledge with hands
on practical onshore and offshore Engineering and
Project Management experience.
Primo Marine: helpdesk for offshore installation
challenges.
Theoretical
Expertise
meets
Practical
Experience
Primo Marine - T: +31 (0) 10 240 98 21
Haringvliet 76 - 3011 TG Rotterdam - The Netherlands
www.primo-marine.com
Page 75
Company news
Aquatic Engineering & Construction
Aquatic in DNV GL JIP on Cable and Pipe Laying Equipment
Aquatic Engineering & Construction, an
Acteon company, is working with DNV GL
and other organisations in the subsea supply chain, on a joint industry project (JIP) to
develop a set of guidelines to be incorporated into new or existing DNV GL Offshore
Standards or Recommended Practices.
The guidelines will be, ‘The Development
of Codes for Offshore Equipment for Cable
and Pipe Laying – Phase 1.’
David Tibbetts, vice president, technology, Aquatic, said: “We were eager to get
involved with this ground breaking project due to the lack of coherent standards
for the specification, design, manufacture,
procurement and approval of equipment
intended for use in offshore cable and
pipe laying operations. DNV approached
Aquatic because we are the obvious supply
chain choice, due to our market leading reputation, our extensive range of products,
four decades of experience and our close
working relationships with all of the leading
contractors.
“The work involves engineering and technical experts from contractors and equipment
manufacturers like Aquatic, collaborating in
order to establish joint industry guidelines
for our type of equipment, where at present nothing exists. Subject to satisfactory
completion of the first two phases, a third
phase undertaken by DNV GL will result in
the publication of an Offshore Standard or
Recommend Practice for cable/pipe laying
equipment.”
The Road Map for the project proposed by
DNV GL in November 2014 consisted of the
following phases:
• Phase 1: Mapping the Big Picture. This
is intended to provide a common, system level understanding of the equipment required for the successful laying
of cables and pipes.
• Phase 2: Mapping the Detail. This is
intended to focus on the individual
components of the system to identify
their inputs, outputs and interaction
with other system components.
• Phase 3: Following the culmination of
Phases 1 and 2, which are scheduled
to be completed during 2016 and
will result in the creation of industry
guidelines and a glossary of common
terms for cable and pipe laying equipment, there is potential for a third phase, which will lead to the publication
of a DNV GL Standard for Certification
or Recommended Practice.
Dr.-Eng Marius Popa, lead naval architect,
DNV GL, said: “Consistency and collaboration within the industry is essential. Individual practices create unnecessary cost
and risk, so the development of a unified
approach will ensure standardisation across
the supply chain. The JIP will deliver a decision tool that can be used by all stakeholders during the specification, design,
manufacture, procurement and approval of
any equipment intended for use in offshore
cable/pipe laying and recovery.”
Phase 1 participants include: Allseas Engineering; Amclyde Norson Engineering;
Aquatic Engineering & Construction Ltd;
IHC Engineering Business; IHC SAS BV;
MAATS Tech Ltd; NLI Offshore & Marine Products AS; Parkburn Precision Handling Systems Ltd; Reel SAS (IMECA); Saipem Group ;
Subsea 7 and Technip UK Ltd.
Atlas Professionals
Atlas Provides Personnel for Monita Project
Geosciences and engineering service provider Next Geosolutions has been awarded a
geophysical, UXO & geotechnical contract
to Prysmian for the Monita Project in the
Adriatic Sea.
Through the collaborative effort of the survey team, Atlas Professionals secured exclusive supplier status to Next Geosolutions for
the whole project.
According to the company, Atlas’ business
manager travelled to Naples to meet with
Next Geosolutions, and after negotiations
were settled Atlas was awarded the con-
tract for 100% freelance personnel supply
for the Monita project.
The cable route survey operations for Monita should take approximately 7 months
to complete. The first Atlas team have been
successfully mobilised and are now working with the back to back team for the first
crew change.
“With such an important project, it is crucial to meet the teams in person, many of
which are long-term loyal Atlas freelancers.
We look forward to travelling to the first
crew change with some of the team mem-
Page 76
bers,” says Alex Meeks, Atlas business manager for offshore survey & construction.
Carlo Pinto, Next Geosolutions sales & marketing director, said: “Monita Project represents a milestone in Next Geosolutions’
growth and we are glad to have selected
Atlas for this scope. Personnel provision to
complement our staff resources is a critical element of our delivery and relying on
trustworthy professionals is an absolute
must.”
Company news
Bibby Offshore
Bibby Offshore Proposes New Work Model for Subsea Industry
Subsea services player, Bibby Offshore, said
it has developed an innovative vessel share
option for clients. According to the company, it has the potential to provide the subsea
industry with significant savings through
encouraging collaboration, cost-efficiencies,
as well as providing increased productivity.
Unlocking Subsea Productivity (USP) re-evaluates the traditional subsea campaign model, proposing a new alternative structure for
how Bibby Offshore delivers services to clients. The concept focuses on a vessel share
agreement, with collaboration from several
clients, to deliver a single linked campaign
workscope that addresses each client’s individual demands.
The USP
To demonstrate the real savings available
to clients, a simulation campaign was generated using eight previous campaigns
completed by Bibby Offshore which were
reconstructed and analysed in order to
quantitatively demonstrate the potential
savings arising from USP. The findings were
presented to 18 client representatives from
six separate operators at a recent USP event
held in Aberdeen. Reportedly, the simulation model calculated an average saving of
£235,000 per client, based on an overall project duration of 54 days reducing to 41 days.
According to Bibby, this resulted in an overall
cost saving of over £1.8million to be shared
amongst the example clients.
Vikki Thom, subsea business manager at Bibby Offshore said: “USP was developed with
our client’s needs and the future of the industry in mind. The model is aimed at reducing the costs associated with mobilisation
periods whilst also distributing further cost
savings for individual clients, helping to ensure a reduction in non-productive time and
an increase in overall work time.
“With the industry currently facing unprecedented challenges due to the continued
low commodity price, the future of the
North Sea is more testing than ever. The
USP proposal provides an efficient model
for a cohesive approach to project delivery
and provides a viable alternative to deferring
work schedules. This demonstrates that we,
as an organisation, are doing everything we
can to support a more sustainable future for
the UKCS Subsea Industry.”
BPP Cables
BPP Cables Adds Director of Cable Operations
BPP Cables has expanded its team with appointment of Tony Zymelka to the role of
director of cable operations.
Zymelka has worked for many decades in
the submarine cable industry, in both the
telecommunications and power transmissi-
on fields. He has experience in submarine
cable manufacturing, testing, installation,
repair & maintenance, research & development as well as design and engineering.
Zymelka said: “I am extremely pleased to
become a part of the BPP Cables family.
Page 77
The offshore cable industry has faced many
technical & commercial challenges over the
years. BPP Cables has a fantastic reputation
in the industry and I look forward to playing
a large role in helping our discerning customers de-risk their projects”
Company news
Construction Industry Research and Information Association
CIRIA Releases UXO Best Practice Guidelines
The Construction Industry Research and
Information Association (CIRIA) has published guidelines for the management of
unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the marine
environment.
CIRIA’s report, entitled “Assessment and management of unexploded ordnance (UXO)
risk in the marine environment (C754)” has
been prepared by Royal HaskoningDHV
and 6 Alpha Associates.
The guidance defines the marine environment and outlines the prospective sources
of UXO contamination. It describes how it
might pose a threat to intrusive engineering work and it provides a framework for
the assessment and management of the
risks posed by potential or actual UXO encounter.
Additionally, the guide identifies the roles
and responsibilities as well as the duties of
different organisations and stakeholders
under existing legislative and regulatory
regimes and pinpoints where and when
professional advice from an UXO specialist
should be sought.
Simon Cooke, Managing Director, at 6 Alpha Associates, and a former Army bomb
Disposal officer said: “The law requires that
UXO risk must be reduced to a level that is
As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP).
That means that a responsible, economic
risk mitigation strategy is likely to involve
avoiding known and suspected threats that
may have been identified by specialist geophysical survey, and to keep to a minimum,
as is commensurate with safety, those items
that must be investigated, verified and, if
they are in fact UXO, made safe.
“However, until now, a lack of understanding–whether between developers and
contractors or between the management
teams responsible for each phase of a
project’s operation–has led many industry
players either to neglect the true scale of
the UXO threat until it’s too late, or to adopt excessive and very expensive clearance
Deep Ocean Engineering
Deep Ocean Engineering Names VP of Sales and Marketing
San Jose-based Deep Ocean Engineering
has named Raul Enrique Pena as its vice
president of sales and marketing.
He is to drive the growth of Deep Ocean
while expanding its presence internationally, the company said.
Pena brings to the company a knowledge
of sales, channel management, business
development and marketing from his ca-
reer in telecom and tech, having worked
in both start-up and established organisations.
He has conducted business in Latin America, Asia and Europe in recent years, and will
be focused on strengthening Deep Ocean
Engineering’s relationships with clients and
sales channels both domestically and internationally.
Page 78
strategies.”
Joanne Kwan, Project Manager, CIRIA said:
“This document is the first UK good practice guidance and will provide comprehensive UXO risk management guidelines for
all organisations working throughout the
lifecycle of marine energy, cabling and infrastructure projects.”
Nick Cooper, Technical Director, Royal HaskoningDHV, added: “This report aims to lay
the foundations for a universal best practice, ensuring that information is readily
accessible to professionals across the field,
and to ensure that suitable procedures are
established concerning the effective management of UXO risks.
“By bringing in centralised, formal guidance, we’re hoping to address a worrying
knowledge gap once and for all and at the
same time, to enhance standards across the
board.”
Company news
DNV GL
DNV GL acquires Swedish power system expert Gothia Power
Gothia Power, a leading Swedish power system analysis company, has been acquired
by DNV GL. “This Company’s expertise and
services are a perfect match for DNV GL’s
existing portfolio in the renewable power,
transmission and distribution industries. I am
therefore happy to announce this acquisition, which establishes DNV GL’s technical and
strategic power system services in the Swedish and Baltic energy markets and further
strengthens our leading position worldwide,”
says DNV GL President and CEO Remi Eriksen.
Gothia Power’s 28 power system experts
work out of offices in Gothenburg, Malmö,
Västerås and Oskarshamn. The company offers advanced analysis and measurements
for power production, power transmission
and power consumption. “Sweden is one of
the most interesting energy markets in Europe. It has a strong and innovative industrial
base, especially within power and transmission. In addition, Sweden’s power system is
tightly integrated with the rest of the Nordics
and Baltics, both physically and through the
Nord Pool power exchange. This is one of the
reasons why DNV GL views Sweden as a strategic growth market,” Eriksen explains.
Fredrik Sjögren, CEO of Gothia Power, says:
“It is with great anticipation that we have
now concluded the acquisition process with
DNV GL. Together, I see many advantages;
our unique competence in power system
analysis can reach new customers in a global
market and at the same time we see great
opportunities to strengthen our services to
existing customers in Sweden and the wider
Nordics. DNV GL’s strategy to address the en-
ergy trilemma of reliability, affordability and
sustainability in the energy industry is aligned with the technological and businessrelated opportunities we see in the future.”
DNV GL provides advanced technical advisory services worldwide throughout the
electricity value chain as well as certification
and verification of power system technologies. As the world is transitioning into a low
carbon future, these services are essential
for nations making strategic decisions about
their power market policies and energy future. “We are very pleased to join forces with
Gothia Power. This company has built a fantastic market position and competence base
during the past decade, focused around our
own core values of quality, integrity and sustainability,” notes Johan Sandberg, Country
Manager for Sweden at DNV GL - Energy.
“Sweden is facing challenging and complex
decisions around its energy future and we
will now be able to offer this market, and the
other Nordic and Baltic countries, our most
advanced power system services through
an established and highly respected group
of specialists.”
About DNV GL
Driven by its purpose of safeguarding life,
property and the environment, DNV GL enables organizations to advance the safety and
sustainability of their business. We provide
classification and technical assurance along
with software and independent expert advisory services to the maritime, oil & gas and
energy industries. We also provide certification services to customers across a wide
EdgeTech
EdgeTech Finds 6205 MPES Agent for Americas
EdgeTech, has signed an agreement with
Equipment and Consulting for Hydrographic Operations (ECHO81) to act as an exclusive 6205 MPES representative for the
Americas. Delray Beach-based ECHO81, a
distributor of marine survey instrumentation, offers equipment, installation, training
and support services focused on hydrogra-
phic survey operations.
“EdgeTech has seen impressive growth in
its bathymetry product line since it was
launched five years ago and the company
looks forward to be able to expand its reach
with the support and services of ECHO81,”
the sonar imaging systems and underwater
technology specialist said in a press release.
Page 79
range of industries. Operating in more than
100 countries, our 15,000 professionals are
dedicated to helping our customers make
the world safer, smarter and greener. www.
dnvgl.com
DNV GL in the Energy industry
In DNV GL we unite the strengths of DNV,
KEMA, Garrad Hassan and GL Renewables
Certification. DNV GL’s 2,500 energy experts
support customers around the globe in
delivering a safe, reliable, efficient, and sustainable energy supply. We deliver worldrenowned testing, certification and advisory
services to the energy value chain including
renewables and energy efficiency. Our expertise spans onshore and offshore wind
power, solar, conventional generation, transmission and distribu-tion, smart grids, and
sustainable energy use, as well as energy
markets and regulations. Our testing, certification and advisory services are delivered
independent from each other. Learn more at
www.dnvgl.com/energy
About Gothia Power
Gothia Power AB is a highly specialised advisory firm in the power system analysis field.
The employees are of a high academic pedigree, with half of the staff holding a Ph.D or
research background. The company, with 28
employees, is mainly active in Sweden, the
Nordics and the Baltics. The service portfolio
is focused on advanced theoretical analysis
and measurements in power production,
power transmission and power consumption.
Company news
Eidesvik Offshore
Siemens to Use Eidesvik’s Vessel to Support German Ops
Eidesvik Offshore has entered into an agreement with Siemens Wind Power for a service
and support vessel to be used on German
offshore wind projects.
Under the contract, which will run from August, the vessel Acergy Viking has been chartered to Siemens Wind Power for 9 months
as an accommodation and service vessel in
Germany. The vessel will undertake a short
mobilization prior to the contract commencement, which includes installing an off-
shore gangway system.
Eidesvik said it has looked into offshore wind
as a strategic business segment for some
time. “I am pleased with our organization’s
ability to adapt to a new market and that
we will now enter a new business segment
with one of our existing subsea vessels. The
Acergy Viking has been in lay-up for a short
period and we are glad that she will be out
in operation again,” said Eidesvik CEO Jan
Fredrik Meling.
EIVA
EIVA in Indonesia Representative Deal with Geotronix
The Danish software and hardware engineering specialist EIVA has welcomed PT
Geotronix Pratama Indonesia to its network
of representatives as of January 2016.
Geotronix, a survey technology provider,
will offer its customers in Indonesia both
EIVA hardware and software solutions. This
cooperation should strengthen EIVA’s activities in Southeast Asia.
“Geotronix’s years of industry experience,
dedication, and proficiency make them a
valuable partner, and we very much look
forward to working with them to strengthen
our presence in Southeast Asia,” said EIVA
sales director Jakob Møller Nielsen.
Geotronix, which EIVA has worked with on
previous occasions, will take on the promotion of EIVA’s full suite of products and solutions in Indonesia.
“The new sales representative agreement
between EIVA and Geotronix has boosted
our enthusiasm and optimism to face up-
Page 80
coming challenges in 2016 and beyond.
We believe that this strategic cooperation is
going to be mutually beneficial, not only for
Geotronix and EIVA but also for our stakeholders in the region. We feel that this collaboration will not only enrich the marine
surveying industry in Indonesia, but bring
our customers’ experience to a whole new
level,” said Geotronix managing director Fajar Setio Adi.
Company news
Energinet.dk
Energinet.dk Seeks Vessels for Subsea Cable O&M
Energinet.dk is looking to charter vessels
for emergency repairs and planned maintenance on submarine power cables and gas
pipelines.
Energinet.dk will award 4-year framework
agreements, which will also cover submarine power cable laying and protection.
The overall amount of contracts is valued at
DKK 200 million (approx. EUR 26.8 million).
Deadline for the submission of tenders is 15
February, 2016.
ENG Resources
ENG Resources to Help Recruiting in Subsea Industry
A subsea engineer, Mark Cooper, has set
up a matchmaking service which should
reduce the costs of recruiting engineers for
subsea projects.
Namely, ENG Resources has been established to help subsea companies find the
most suitable engineers for projects in oil
and gas and marine renewables at the most
competitive rates.
According to reports, ENG Resources will
source and provide the most appropriate
engineering consultants to match the specific needs of a client’s project, reducing
the risk of costly mistakes due to a lack of
understanding of both the technical competences of the engineer and the technical
requirements of the project.
Cooper said: “I have seen first-hand the
costly problems caused by the recruitment
process not matching the skills and competences of an engineer to the technical complexities of the project. This is largely due to
a lack of engineering knowledge and a misunderstanding of what’s actually involved
in the project.
“ENG Resources is highly specialised and
subsea focused. Committed to getting the
best result for both the client and the candidate, our goal is to provide people who will
excel in the position, resulting in a satisfied
client and a fulfilled consultant.”
Focused solely on subsea, ENG Resources
is currently building a pool of engineering
consultants who will be quality controlled
and categorised by their skills, experience
and competence. These candidates will
then be matched to the client’s requirements after a thorough assessment of the
project or position.
Fraunhofer UK
ORCHIDS Project to Enhance Subsea Cable Monitoring
Fraunhofer UK has joined forces with Synaptec and the European Marine Energy
Centre (EMEC) to develop a solution to
address cable and electrical infrastructure
integrity within the marine renewable energy industry.
Funded by the UK Government’s business
innovation experts InnovateUK, the ORCHIDS project (Offshore Renewable energy
Cable Health monitoring using Integrated
Distributed Sensor systems) has brought
experts together to tackle one of the challenges in offshore renewable energy.
“Subsea cable health is a particular challenge for marine energy and offshore renewables due to the hostile environment in
which they are placed and have to operate”,
remarks David Hytch, Offshore Renewables
Specialist at InnovateUK. “Failure of cables
can also lead to costly losses of revenue and
hefty repair bills.”
“As business focused innovation experts,
Innovate UK recognised the potential benefits of the ORCHIDS project to reduce
the cost of offshore renewable energy and
improve the use of these technologies for
sustainable, secure and competitive power
generation in the future. Thinking about
the future and supporting projects involving businesses with high growth potential
is exactly what Innovate UK is for and we
are pleased to be able to provide funding
Page 81
for ORCHIDS and help to connect the collaborators through the Energy Catalyst programme.”
The project is looking to enhance subsea
cable monitoring capabilities by combining emerging optical sensing techniques
to enable a smart cable management system that can be utilised during manufacture, transport, installation, through to end
of life.
The feasibility study will include a market
assessment looking at the commercial case
for the technology alongside a technical
review of different distributed fibre sensing
techniques.
Company news
French Environment and Energy Management Agency
Marseilles to Host Floating Offshore Wind Players in March
Third international conference dedicated to
floating offshore wind turbines will be held
in Marseilles from 10 to 11 March this year.
Representatives from a large number of
French and international companies and
organisations involved in the sector will discuss their activities, present recent research
and analysis and exchange information on
the principal challenges in this domain.
French Environment and Energy Management Agency’s (ADEME) launch of the call
for projects for floating wind turbine pilot
farms in August 2015 marks the rise of a
new industrial sector to meet energy and
climate challenges in the same way the call
for projects for pre-commercial farms in
Portugal, Scotland and Japan did. Furthermore, the Mediterranean has both a coastline very advantageous for floating offshore
wind installations as well as a network of
specialised companies – some of which
have promising export potential, the conference organisers said.
The International Floating Offshore Wind
Turbine conference (FOWT) is organised by
the Pôle Mer Mediterranée and the Marseille Provence CCI, in partnership with France
Energie Eolienne.
Global Marine Systems Limited
HC2’s Subsidiary, Global Marine Systems Limited, Acquires Majority Interest in CWind
HC2 Holdings, Inc.’s subsidiary, Global Marine Systems Limited (“Global Marine”), announced today the acquisition of a majority interest in CWind Limited (“CWind”), a
leading offshore renewables specialist. The
purchase of CWind demonstrates Global
Marine’s continued commitment to the offshore renewable sector and adds a diverse
range of construction and O&M services to
its current capabilities.
CWind has built an enviable track record
and has to date supported the construction
and operation of over 26 wind farms in the
North Sea, Irish Sea and the Baltic delivering
a broad range of construction and O&M services. In 2014, the company had substantial
growth, which led to CWind opening a new
office based in Bremen, Germany.
CWind operates an 18-strong fleet that
executes a wealth of activities in support of
leading wind farm owners and operators,
transporting technicians safely to complete essential work to assure cost-effective
construction, as well as reliable on-going
performance of the offshore wind farm.
The 360° Service Solutions CWind offers
represent a comprehensive approach to
the industry, allowing clients to combine
services from a wide array of on-demand
services thereby improving efficiency and
lowering risk for wind farm customers.
“We are thrilled with the completion of this
acquisition,” said Philip Falcone, CEO of HC2
Holdings, Inc. “We believe this transaction
underscores Global Marine’s commitment
to growth in the offshore renewables market and we look forward to capitalizing on
more opportunities in this sector.”
Ian Douglas, CEO of Global Marine, commented, “The acquisition of CWind brings
together two companies with a proven
commitment to the highest standards of
customer delivery, quality and safety. The
range of services provided by the team and
the vessels within CWind complements
Global Marine’s range of installation and
maintenance services and creates an organization that is well positioned to address
the developing needs of customers in the
offshore renewables market.”
Mr. Douglas continued, “I strongly believe
the acquisition of CWind demonstrates
our commitment to both growth and the
offshore renewables market. We recognize
the need for greater efficiency and lower
costs for our customers and will continue
to position ourselves to address the evolving needs of new and existing offshore
windfarms and the challenges as we move
further offshore.”
Chris Randle, CEO of CWind added, “This is
a fantastic start to 2016 and I am delighted
that CWind is now a part of the Global Marine family. We share a vision for the longPage 82
term sustainable growth of the business in
the offshore wind and renewables sector.
Global Marine has over 165 years of subsea experience and that, combined with
CWind's integrated service offering, means
we can provide unparalleled value for our
clients in construction and O&M, positioning the company to fully exploit the opportunities in front of us.”
In its last financial year finishing 30 September 2015, CWind had total annual revenues
of £26.0M ($40.3M); Global Marine reported
revenues of £88.9M ($137.1M) during the
same period.
About HC2
HC2 Holdings, Inc. is a publicly traded
(NYSE:HCHC) diversified holding company,
which seeks opportunities to acquire and
grow businesses that can generate longterm sustainable free cash flow and attractive returns in order to maximize value for
all stakeholders. HC2 has a diverse array of
operating subsidiaries across seven reportable segments, including Manufacturing,
Marine Services, Utilities, Telecommunications, Life Sciences, Insurance and Other.
HC2’s largest operating subsidiaries include
Schuff International, Inc., a leading structural steel fabricator and erector in the United
States, and Global Marine Systems Limited,
a leading provider of engineering and un(continues on p.83)
Company news
Global Marine Systems Limited
(continued)
HC2’s Subsidiary, Global Marine Systems Limited, Acquires Majority Interest in CWind
derwater services on submarine cables.
Founded in 1994, HC2 is headquartered in
Herndon, Virginia.
About Global Marine Systems Limited
Global Marine Systems Limited, is a leading
provider of engineering and underwater
services, responding to the subsea cable
installation, maintenance and burial requirements of its customers around the world.
With a fleet of vessels and specialized subsea trenching and burial equipment, the
company has a 165-year legacy in deep
and shallow water cable operations. Global
Marine’s primary markets are oil & gas, renewable energy & power, telecommunica-
tions and deep sea research.
Global Marine holds the RoSPA Order of Distinction in recognition of 16 consecutive
years of outstanding occupational health
and safety results.
www.globalmarinesystems.com
Hexicon
Atkins to Design Dounreay Trì Floating Platform
Swedish company Hexicon has appointed Atkins as engineering partner for the
world’s first multi-turbine offshore wind
floating platform to be deployed at the
Dounreay Trì Project off the Scottish north
coast.
Atkins’ offshore wind team has been working with Hexicon to define the concept
since 2015 and is currently in the process of
analysing a two turbine 8-12MW structure
ready for Front End Engineering Design
(FEED) and physical model testing of the
new design later this year.
Katherine Ward, project manager in Atkins’
renewables business, said: “We’re really
pushing the boundaries of what can be
done to support Hexicon in maximising energy yield through clever design. The team
has a great deal of experience in innovative,
transformational work both in the renewables and oil and gas sectors and on this
project we are going one step further in
making such an exciting concept a reality.”
New developments in the design of the
Page 83
floating structure’s mooring system have
increased the efficiency of the rotating system reducing CAPEX and maximising energy yield.
“Atkins brings innovation, quality and professionalism, and we’re pleased to be working with them on developing our floating
wind concept ready for the offshore wind
market. Our aim is for this project to show
how a multi turbine concept can help bring
down the cost of offshore wind, enabling
this form of renewable energy to be even
more financially viable,” Marcus Thor, project director for Hexicon, said.
Atkins has been involved in several floating
wind projects, including designing and
analysing Principle Power’s WindFloat prototype in Portugal, designing Pilot Offshore
Renewable’s Kincardine floating wind project, and winning Statoil’s Hywind floating
wind demonstrator Installation Challenge
competition.
Chris Cowland, project director in Atkins’
renewables business, said: “The integrated
design capability that enables the head to
toe design that we’re undertaking for Hexicon clearly demonstrates how our experience across a range of both floating and
fixed offshore wind projects can add real
value to clients.”
Company news
IKM Subsea Singapore
IKM Subsea Bags ROV Contracts in Singapore
IKM Subsea Singapore has been awarded
two contracts for the provision of ROV ser-
vices to two unnamed clients.
The first is a subcontract for a repeat customer for ROV services onboard a derrick
lay barge. The duration of the contract is
approximately 200 days, starting January
2016.
IKM has mobilized its Merlin WR200 workclass ROV onboard and will be providing
personnel to operate it with the necessary
tooling, the company said.
The second contract is a requirement onboard the semi-submersible drilling rig.
Similar workclass ROV has been mobilized
with the necessary tooling and personnel
since December 2015.
“To be awarded contracts in this difficult and
slow market is fantastic. We appreciate the
fact that our clients do recognize the good
work done on the previous campaign and
believe we can deliver the required quality again. It is important that the company
continues to perform at the highest level
possible to grow and sustain during this
tough period,” said IKM Subsea Singapore’s
general manager, Mahesh Govindan.
JDR
JDR Adds New Members to Board of Directors
JDR, a UK-based supplier of subsea umbilicals and power cables, has appointed Rob
Hastings and Alan Wilson as Non-Executive
Directors.
Rob Hastings is currently Executive Director
of the corporate management board at The
Crown Estate. Rob is directly responsible for
the Energy & Infrastructure portfolio, constituting the Crown Estates’ property rights
over the UK’s seabed.
He is also a Director of Indigo Power Ltd
and Indigo Solar LLP which both invest in
low carbon energy solutions.
Alan Wilson has over 30 years’ experience
in the offshore subsea sector including
five years as CEO of Trelleborg Offshore Limited. Alan has experience working as a
Non-Executive Director and Chairman on
the boards of private equity backed and
publicly listed companies, including M&A
transactions for both.
Alan is currently a Non-Executive Chairman
of a number of businesses, including Pressure Technologies, Rimor Limited and Modern Water.
The Executive Chairman of the JDR’s Board
of Directors, Pat Herbert, said: “Rob Hastings
and Alan Wilson add a wealth of experience
to our already highly experienced board of
directors. We will all look forward to working closely with both of these seasoned
executives as they bring the benefit of their
knowledge, experience, perspective and
networks in support of JDR’s continued
growth.”
JDR Chief Executive Officer, David Currie,
added: “I am delighted to welcome Rob
and Alan to JDR at such an exciting time.
Our strategy of investing in technology,
services and productivity means that our
Page 84
order-book in offshore renewables continues to grow and we are maintaining our
strong market share in the oil and gas sector. Our recent multi-year framework agreements with DONG Energy and tidal energy
developer Atlantis Resources demonstrate
the depth of our partnerships in the rapidly growing renewables sector. Meanwhile,
recent contract wins with Marathon, Apache and Subsea 7 in the UK North Sea demonstrate the value that our partners continue to place on our expertise in the face
of a challenging sector environment. The
investment we have announced in expanding our state-of-the-art Hartlepool facility
will support the next phase of our growth,
enabling us to offer unrivalled technical expertise to design, test and deliver the next
generation of subsea technology for our
customers”
Company news
Kinewell Energy
KLOC Cuts Cable Costs and Electrical Losses
Kinewell Energy has re-designed an existing offshore wind farm in a case study
which demonstrated that its new software,
KLOC, could have saved the developers 3%
of the installed cable cost had the technology been available when the wind farm
was designed.
The North East of England based company
used the 576 MW Gwynt-y-mor in the case
study. The software was used to optimise
the geographical layout of the farm’s off-
shore electrical cables, which collect the
energy before it is sent to shore.
During the study, Kinewell Energy found
that GBP 2.2 million of the installed cable
cost could be saved by utilising KLOC compared to traditional design techniques.
The savings were realised by reducing the
overall cable length by 1.7 km and through
the reduction of electrical losses; some 1.2
GWh per year.
“If our technology is used for all future UK
offshore wind farms, we would expect an
extra 70 GWh of electrical energy to reach
the UK each year. That would negate around
27,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually
whilst powering around 16,000 homes – all
energy that would otherwise be wasted heating the sea,” Kinewell Energy’s Managing
Director Andrew Jenkins said.
Kinewell launched the KLOC software in
November 2015, following two years of research and development.
Kongsberg Maritime AS
Kongsberg Sells Six HUGIN AUVs
Kongsberg Maritime AS has announced the
sale of six HUGIN AUV Systems. The vehicles
will be operated by SeaTrepid International of Louisiana, USA, and supported by
Deep Ocean Search. The AUVs are rated to
6000 metres. They’re equipped with a comprehensive sensor suite including triple
frequency sidescan sonar, KONGSBERG’s
EM2040 multibeam echosounder, sub-bottom profiler and a colour camera.
The vehicles are also equipped with a magnetometer mounted inside the AUV body,
the company said.
All six SeaTrepid HUGIN AUVs are fitted with
swappable Lithium polymer batteries.
They will be supplied with a topside spread
including launch and recovery containers,
operations room containers and KONGSBERG HiPAP USBL systems for supervised
operations.
Kongsberg Maritime AS
Kongsberg Launches New Subsea Transponders
Kongsberg Maritime has introduced a new
range of mini medium frequency subsea
transponders.
The new cNODE MiniS family supersedes
the Kongsberg Mini SSBL transponders
(MST) range, which was first available in
2002.
The cNODE MiniS 34-180 and cNODE MiniS 34-40V are used with HiPAP, cPAP and
µPAP underwater positioning systems,
and, according to Kongsberg, are ideal for
accurate remotely operated vehicle (ROV)
positioning operations. Both new cNODE
MiniS transponders are depth rated to 4000
meters.
cNODE MiniS 34-180 and cNODE MiniS 3440V operate on HiPAP/HPR 400 channels
with over 500 Cymbal channels.
Page 85
“The new cNODE MiniS transponders will
give operators improved position data over
previous generation small form transponders and we look forward to industry acceptance for their accuracy, reliability and
enhanced functionality,” said Morten Berntsen, sales director subsea ongsberg Maritime. “Despite being even smaller, cNODE
MiniS transponders offer improvements
across the board, positioning them as the
most advanced compact subsea transponders for use with KONGSBERG and other
manufacturers’ subsea positioning systems
available today.”
Company news
Kraken Sonar Systems Inc.
Kraken Secures $500K Canada Backing
Kraken Sonar’s wholly-owned subsidiary,
Kraken Sonar Systems Inc., will receive a
non-refundable financial contribution of
up to $495,000 from the National Research
Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP).
In addition to technical and business advisory services provided by NRC-IRAP, the
funding is being used to develop the Kraken Active Towed Fish (KATFISH) for seabed
mapping.
The system will enable real-time seabed
imagery, bathymetry and 3D digital terrain
models of the seabed. According to Kraken,
the KATFISH will enable seabed mapping
missions optimized for both manned and
unmanned surface vessels.
Karl Kenny, Kraken’s president and CEO, said:
“We are very grateful for the continued support from NRC-IRAP. Their assistance enables us to continue to innovate our seabed
survey solutions. We’ve stated on many occasions that cost effective and high resolution seabed mapping is mission-critical for
many military and commercial applications.
Placing a survey sensor, such as Kraken’s
Miniature Synthetic Aperture Sonar, closer
to the seafloor will result in the acquisition
of much higher resolution data. When the
sensor is integrated onto a high speed, intelligently stabilized towed platform such
as KATFISH, better quality data is acquired
at a faster rate, thus improving efficiency
and lowering both operational and data
acquisition costs. In fact, we believe that
KATFISH provides the highest resolution
seabed pixels at the lowest cost compared
to any other competing survey sonar platform.”
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Page 86
+44 (0)1245 702000
Company news
Latam Telecommunications
Significant burden on submarine operators
America Movil’s (AM’s) subsidiary Latam
Telecommunications, the licensed operator of the America Movil Submarine Cable
System-1 (AMX-1), said in an ex parte filing
with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that the rules proposed to mandate undersea cable line outage reporting
risk imposing significant burdens on submarine operators.
The company said: ‘Any real-time reporting
obligations will force operators to expend
considerable resources on reporting and
divert their attention away from crucial diagnostic and restoration efforts.’
Latam said it agrees with AT&T that the
cost to implement the reporting proposals
could be hundreds of times more than the
estimated USD 8,000.
The filing follows similar complaints in
December by the Submarine Cable Coali-
tion. As previously reported, in September
2015 the FCC proposed that submarine
cable outages which affect more than 50%
of traffic for 30 minutes or more must be
reported. The FCC outlined that operators
would have to provide details on the nature
and impact of any damage and disruption
to communications, help mitigate any impact on emergency services and consumers, and assist in service restoration.
Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited
China Longyuan Wraps Up CNY 2 Bn Debenture Offering
China Longyuan Power Group Corporation
Limited, China’s largest wind power producer, has completed the issuance of CNY 2
billion (EUR 279 million) of ultra short-term
debentures with a term of 270 days.
China Longyuan will use the proceeds raised from the debentures for replenishment
of working capital and replacement of matured bank loans so as to adjust the debt
structure of the company, reduce financing
cost and enhance competitiveness.
Back in January, China Longyuan’s 400 MW
Longyuan Putian Nanri Island offshore wind
farm started producing power after the first
four of one hundred Siemens SWT-4.0-130
turbines were connected to the grid.
The construction of the wind farm is expected to cost around CNY 8.2 billion. The
wind farm is expected to be completed in
2018, and have the capacity to produce 1.4
billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually.
Louis Dreyfus TravOcean
Saab Seaeye Leopards for Louis Dreyfus TravOcean
Specialist submarine cable installation company, Louis Dreyfus TravOcean, has ordered
two Saab Seaeye Leopards for touchdown
monitoring and support.
The Leopard ROVs, with eleven thrusters
and iCON intelligent control system should
provide TravOcean with a stable work platform particularly in strong currents.
Page 87
According to Saab Seaeye, the iCON system
delivers pitch and roll stabilisation, allowing a stable flight even with large tools and
sensors deployed.
Developed from the Panther XT-Plus, the
Seaeye Leopard has an operating depth
rate of 2000/3000 meters. Its dimensions
are L 2.15m x H 1.17m x W 1.16M.
Company news
Makai Ocean Engineering Inc.
Makai upgrades software to plan and simulate subsea power and telecom cable installations
MakaiPlan Pro has enhanced compatibility with Windows 8 and beyond, enabling more user-friendly features and faster performance.
Makai has released version 6.0 of MakaiPlan
Pro, which is a popular software for planning
and simulating subsea power and telecom
cable installations. MakaiPlan Pro includes
the tools of MakaiPlan, which is the industry
standard GIS cable route engineering software. In addition, MakaiPlan Pro allows the
user to perform powerful and precise 3-D,
dynamic simulations of a submarine cable
installation. The operator can quickly simulate an entire cable lay in advance from the
comfort of the office at up to 50 times faster
than real-time. This is useful for developing
Ship Installation plans, performing pre-lay
and post-lay analysis, and also for operator
training. The operator can run advanced
simulations for conducting Installation Feasibility Studies and Equipment Selection.
A detailed simulation aids installers in understanding how to control cable seabed
slack/tension during dynamic cable laying
situations such as starts and stops, repeater
deployments, sharp alter courses, and dealing with irregular seabed.
“We are continuously improving our products to satisfy the evolving needs of our
users, whether it is new tools to address power cable installations or adding automated features to make our users’ lives easier,”
said Venkata Jasti, Manager of Submarine
Cable Systems at Makai. “This release is part
of our ongoing effort to upgrade all of our
products to take advantage of the increased computational capabilities of the next
generation of PCs. A major MakaiPlan upgrade was released last year. Now we are
releasing MakaiPlan Pro and we intend to
release an upgrade for MakaiLay later this
year.” Makai provides tools for each of the
three primary phases of a cable project:
Route Planning and Engineering (MakaiPlan), Installation Planning and Simulation
(MakaiPlan Pro), and Real-time At-sea
Cable Installation Control (MakaiLay). Each
tool has been thoroughly validated and
used successfully on cable projects for over
16 years. Information flows seamlessly from
one product to the next, and cable projects
that were planned using MakaiPlan can be
directly opened with MakaiPlan Pro, preserving the information richness of the plan
(GIS layers, geo-referenced notes, etc.). AfPage 88
ter planning and simulating the installation,
the entire output (including final ship plan,
installation notes, and more) is passed onto
MakaiLay, which is installed on the cable
ship. This smooth and hassle-free transition from planning to installation minimizes
the chance of errors, by totally eliminating
the need to use a host of individual Excel
spreadsheets, databases, and simulation
tools that were not designed specifically for
subsea cable lays.
About Makai Ocean Engineering Inc.
Makai Ocean Engineering, Inc. is an innovative ocean technology firm based in Hawaii,
USA since 1973. Makai’s expertise includes
submarine cable software and services, marine pipelines,
Seawater Air Conditioning (SWAC), Ocean
Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), underwater vehicles, and marine engineering and
R&D. For the last 16 years, Makai has produced the world’s most popular submarine
cable installation, planning, and simulation
software. Makai is ISO 9001:2008 certified.
Visit www.makai.com for more.
Company news
Marine Power Systems
SST Finalizes WaveSub Pump Testing
Marine Power Systems (MPS), a Swanseabased company, has recently completed
testing of its prototype pump, a key subsystem of the company’s WaveSub wave energy converter (WEC).
The project has been part-funded by the
European Regional Development Fund
through the Welsh Government, with MPS
receiving a £2 million grant in October
2015.
The pump was deployed in the pickling
pond, a tidal lagoon in the Pembroke Port
prior to being recovered for testing. The
aim of the pump testing was to determine
whether any biofouling or corrosion affected the performance of the pump, the
company explained.
The testing was conducted by Severn Subsea Technologies (SST). SST conducted a
series of tests to ascertain its performance,
including measuring flow rates pre- and
post-deployment at sea.
A critical aspect of the prototype pump testing procedure was to investigate whether
the pump could maintain the required flow
rates in operation at sea. This is required
to ensure the safety and reliability of MPS’
WaveSub device, which is due for deployment this year.
MPS’ WaveSub will provide a renewable energy source through harnessing the energy
from ocean waves.
Dr Gareth Stockman, co-founder and managing director of Marine Power Systems,
said:
“Marine Power Systems is hugely grateful
to the Port of Milford Haven for its support
and assistance through its Pembroke Port
site which has aided the deployment and
installation of the pump, and also to Severn
Subsea Technologies for its expertise in the
field.
“We are reaching some exciting and important milestones as we work towards
completing all the necessary procedures
required to ensure the successful deployment of the WaveSub device. We are pleased with the positive results from recove-
Page 89
ring the pump prototype and are optimistic
about upcoming testing processes we will
carry out ahead of deployment of our quarter-scale WaveSub device.”
Natalie Britton, director of operations and
commercial at Pembroke Port, said:
“We are confident that the cluster of engineering skills, combined with excellent port
facilities and an unrivalled marine environment off the Pembrokeshire coast, makes
Pembroke Port the ideal location for the
developing marine renewable sector.
“Pembroke Port is a hub where everything
from design and testing to manufacture
and ongoing maintenance can be carried
out, all within close proximity. It is a centre
of excellence. In this case, Pembroke Port’s
historic pickling pond offered a completely
sheltered, secure marine environment for
MPS to test components at variable water
depth. It’s been great to be able to help
Marine Power Systems add value and confidence to its innovative design.”
Company news
Maersk Supply Service
MSS Welcomes Maersk Connector to Its Fleet
Maersk Connector, the DP2 cable installation vessel, was handed over from Damen
Shipyards Group to Maersk Supply Service
(MSS) on February 04, 2016.
The vessel is going directly on a long-term
charter for subsea services provider DeepOcean.
“We’ve already been awarded three UK and
North Sea contracts for Maersk Connector,
so we’re very satisfied,” reports DeepOcean Commercial Director Pierre Boyde. “The
working relationship has been productive
and Damen has delivered a state-of-the-art
cable installation vessel. Maersk Connector
is fine-tuned around DeepOcean’s 20 years’ experience of installing and trenching
more than 1,000 kilometres of power cable and backed up with Maersk Supply
Service’s long pedigree of superior marine
operations.”
Søren Karas, Chief Commercial Officer of
Maersk Supply Service, added: “Maersk Connector is the result of a successful tri-party
cooperation between a quality yard, an
experienced subsea service provider and a
leading vessel owner and marine operator.
Throughout the process there was close
communication between all parties, focused on finding solutions. Maersk Supply
Service is very happy with the outcome re-
Page 90
sulting from this cooperation; the vessel has
been delivered on time, on budget and the
quality is good. We are excited to embark
on the long term cooperation with DeepOcean supporting their subsea operations.”
So far the vessel has been contracted to undertake marine works for three DeepOcean
contracts: the Walney Extension Project, the
Nemo Link interconnector and the Bligh
Bank Phase II Offshore Wind Farm.
Built at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania,
Maersk Connector is the second of a new
generation of cable-laying vessels based
on the Damen Offshore Carrier (DOC) platform. Developed as a flexible platform for
both transport and installation work offshore, the DOC 8500 is 138 metres in length
and has a beam of 27.5 metres.
Company news
New Jersey Fiber Exchange
Windstream expands its 100G Network to NJFX’s Meet-Me Room at Tata Communications’ Cable Landing Station
New Jersey Fiber Exchange (NJFX), a leader
in data center and colocation solutions,
and Windstream, a leading provider of large bandwidth transport, announce the
expansion of Windstream’s 100G long-haul
express network from the company’s 21715
Filigree Court, Ashburn, Virginia, Point of
Presence (PoP) to NJFX’s carrier-neutral data
center in Wall Township, New Jersey. The
expansion will create the first direct network connection between NJFX’s Meet-Me
Room (MMR) at the Tata Communications’
Cable Landing Station (CLS) and Ashburn.
The newly-established express fiber route
offers customers four main benefits:
• 70 percent of the world’s Internet traffic travels through Northern Virginia,
and Windstream is the only carrier that
has four separate paths in and out of
the area. The network connection also
bypasses New York, Northern New Jersey, and other congested routes based
on legacy infrastructure, ensuring low
latency and secure connectivity.
• NJFX customers gain access to
Windstream’s enterprise-class cloud
communications, advanced data and
voice solutions, and reliable 100 Gigabit Ethernet services delivered over the
company’s extensive nationwide fiber
and IP network.
• Windstream offers connectivity to
and from 9 million square feet of data
center, including ten major third-party
data centers and data center campuses
in the Washington D.C., area, which includes facilities in Ashburn, Reston and
McLean, Virginia.
• Tata Communications continues to invest in its IP infrastructure with plans
to offer its full portfolio of services and
solutions at the Wall Township facility
in March 2016, including carrier-grade
MPLS, Wavelength options and, ultimately, 100 Gigabit Internet hand-offs.
In 2015, Windstream focused on expanding
its network. This latest 230-plus-mile, 100G
long-haul network extension reflects our
commitment to meeting the rapidly expan-
ding data needs of our customers,” remarks
Joe Scattareggia, Senior Vice President of
Sales for Windstream Carrier Solutions. “We
built out our network to NJFX’s meet-me
room in New Jersey as an additional termination point since this is a prime meeting
hub for subsea cables connecting two continents.”
NJFX’s 64,800-square-foot, Tier 3 facility
where subsea cables from the U.S. and
Europe meet at the United States’ easternmost edge, will offer service providers,
enterprises, carrier-neutral operators and
cable companies direct interconnection
options at the cable head-end without recurring cross-connect fees. The facility will
encompass the latest in Tier 3 computing
infrastructure design, featuring over 1,000
cabinets for carrier-neutral colocation and
greater capacity, with densities ranging
from 2kW to 16kW per cabinet to address
high-density power needs.
“Partnering with Windstream fortifies NJFX
with additional reliable, low latency 100G
connectivity for our data center and meetme room customers,” comments Gil Santaliz, Founder and Managing Member of
NJFX. “With multiple subsea systems coming into our facility, our goal is to provide
customers with reliable, diverse connectivity options in a highly-secure, fortified facility as close to the edge as a network operator could get.”
Given the challenging economic conditions, fast, secure and reliable connectivity
is crucial for businesses. The direct extension of our network and access to additional
routes to Ashburn will ultimately enable
organizations to reach global audiences faster, expand into new territories, and drive
better collaboration worldwide in today’s
hyper-connected marketplace,” states John
Hayduk, President and Corporate Operations Officer at Tata Communications.
The NJFX data center will provide global
connectivity to more than 240 countries
and territories as well as 99.7% of the world’s
GDP by way of Tata Communications’ global
subsea fiber network, one of the largest and
most advanced in the world. Furthermore,
Page 91
as the exclusive, carrier-neutral meet-me
room operator inside Tata Communications’
Wall, NJ international CLS, NJFX tenants benefit from a high level of connectivity to
leading service providers within the CLS.
Companies interested in discussing the
connectivity benefits available by collocating at NJFX are encouraged to schedule a
meeting with Gil Santaliz, Founder and Managing Member of NJFX at PTC’16 in Honolulu, HI. To request a meeting, please email
NJFX@imillerpr.com.
For more information about NJFX and its
Tier 3, carrier-neutral data center by the sea,
visit www.NJFX.net.
About New Jersey Fiber Exchange
New Jersey Fiber Exchange (NJFX) will be
a carrier-neutral, highly secure, enterpriseclass Tier 3 data center / colocation property
focused on providing direct connectivity to
international submarine cable systems via
private backhaul solutions. The company’s
64,800,000-square-foot facility is planned to
go live in 2016 and will feature high- and
low-density data center solutions with 24/7
tech support, assisting carriers, content
providers and enterprises as well as federal
and state government entities. NJFX’s low
latency colocation data center offerings
provide the flexibility, reliability and security
that global customers require to drive revenue, reduce expenses and improve service
quality. For more information, please visit
www.NJFX.net.
About Windstream
Windstream Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: WIN),
a Fortune 500 company, is a leading provider of advanced network communications
and technology solutions for consumers,
small businesses, enterprise organizations
and carrier partners across the U.S. Windstream offers bundled services, including
broadband, security solutions, voice and
digital TV to consumers. We also provide
data, cloud solutions, unified communications and managed services to business
and enterprise clients. The company supplies core transport solutions on a local and
(continues on p.92)
Company news
(continued)
New Jersey Fiber Exchange
Windstream expands its 100G Network to NJFX’s Meet-Me Room at Tata Communications’ Cable Landing Station
long-haul fiber-optic network spanning
approximately 121,000 miles. Additional
information is available at windstream.com.
Please visit our newsroom at news.windstream.com or follow us on Twitter at @
WindstreamNews.
About Tata Communications
Tata Communications Limited (CIN no:
L64200MH1986PLC039266) along with its
subsidiaries (Tata Communications) is a
leading global provider of A New World of
Communications™. With a leadership position in emerging markets, Tata Communications leverages its advanced solutions
capabilities and domain expertise across
its global and pan-India network to deliver
managed solutions to multi-national enterprises, service providers and Indian consumers.
The Tata Communications global network
includes one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks and a Tier1 IP network with connectivity to over 240
countries and territories across 400 PoPs, as
well as nearly 1 million square feet of data
center and collocation space worldwide.
Tata Communications’ depth and breadth
of reach in emerging markets includes leadership in Indian enterprise data services
and leadership in global international voice.
Tata Communications Limited is listed on
the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.
http://www.tatacommunications.com
Oceaneering
BP Calls Off Vessel Contract with Oceaneering
Oceaneering announced that BP has decided to terminate its use of the chartered
construction support vessel ‘Bourbon Oceanteam 101’ at the end of May 2016.
BP has exercised its right under the Field
Support Vessel Services contract signed
between the parties, for work offshore Angola.
Prior to this notice, the work was scheduled
to extend through the end of January 2017.
Under the terms of the contract, the costs
incurred by Oceaneering associated with
the early release and demobilization of the
vessel are expected to be reimbursed by BP,
OceanServer Technology
DRDC Acquires Iver3 AUV
OceanServer Technology has received an
order for an Iver3-580 EP system from Canada Public Works and Government Services
for delivery to the Defence Research and
Development Canada (DRDC).
The Iver3 AUV will be used to augment
existing autonomous systems and provide
a platform to continue R&D in underwater
research at DRDC Atlantic.
DRDC will have access to Iver’s mature
hardware and software interfaces to further
studies in various adaptive behavior “autonomy software” architectures, the company
said.
The vehicle will be equipped with an INS
for accurate navigation along with the Klein
3500 Side Scan and Bathy system for imaging and mapping the seafloor.
Page 92
the company said.
Following the release of the vessel, Oceaneering intends to redeliver it to the owner.
The vessel is jointly owned by Oceanteam
and Bourbon Offshore.
Project management, engineering, and
vessel services work associated with the
provision of a second chartered vessel, Ocean Intervention III, is expected to continue
as previously contracted with BP offshore
Angola through January 2017, Oceaneering added.
Company news
Offshore Wind Accelerator
New guide to offshore wind cable burial
The UK’s Offshore Wind Accelerator has published a new report to inform industry on
how to apply the Cable Burial Risk Assessment Guidance (CBRA) following its launch
earlier this year.
The new Application Guide for the Specification of the Depth of Lowering using
CBRA explains how the pioneering probabilistic methodology can be applied to real
offshore projects based on actual experience from an operational wind farm. This
will help designers use the CBRA Guidance
to specify the Depth of Lowering and manage associated residual risks to reduce the
installation and insurance costs for subsea
cables.
Following the publication of the CBRA methodology the Carbon Trust, together with
DONG Energy and Statkraft with contributions from Cathie Associates, has continued
to engage industry to help turn the theory
of the methodology into best practice. The
now widely accepted CBRA Guidance offers
a standardised, repeatable and qualitative
method to improve risk management of
subsea cables for offshore wind farms.
According to industry figures shared by
specialist offshore underwriter, GCube over
80 per cent of construction projects have
resulted in a cable related incident, with
over half of claims being attributed to incorrect installation and load out of cables.
Jan Matthiesen, Offshore Wind Director at
the Carbon Trust commented: “CBRA is fast
becoming established as the leading standardised methodology for the Depth of Lowering specification. The OWA is delighted
to have received a positive response on
CBRA from the industry as a whole. We aimed to fill what was a real gap in the indus-
Page 93
try and we hope that the new Application
Guide will help bring a deeper level of understanding on how to manage risks related to cable burial and ensure installations
are being planned within appropriate risk
parameters.”
Jacob Edmonds DONG Energy Offshore
Cable Installation-Project Development
Department Manager added: “DONG Energy has participated actively in the development of the CBRA methodology, and we
have supported with our experience about
installation of offshore cables. We believe
that the adoption of the CBRA methodology will lead to the optimisation of the
Depth of Lowering specification and to cost
savings in many risk scenarios, by avoiding
unnecessary steps during installation of cables. Therefore we consider the application
of CBRA an essential step towards optimising our future projects in general.”
Input values have been reviewed and checked with the industry, with the aim to
reflect technological developments and
achieve alignment with best practices. This
is key to establishing trust in the methodology and enable it to gain traction as the
new industry standard way of defining the
Depth of Lowering for subsea cables for offshore wind applications.
The Offshore Wind Accelerator is a joint
industry project involving nine developers
representing roughly three-quarters of the
UK’s licensed capacity – DONG Energy,
E.ON, Mainstream Renewable Power, RWE
Innogy, Scottish Power Renewables, SSE
Renewables, Statkraft, Statoil and Vattenfall.
Company news
Pharos Offshore
Pharos Subsea Hydraulic Cable Grab Helps Repair Basslink
After completing London Array work, Pharos Offshore has secured a new job for its
subsea hydraulic cable grab in Bass Strait off
the Tasmanian coastline.
The subsea hydraulic cable grab will be
used to recover the Basslink subsea cable
for repair. The cable experienced fault in
December last year.
The Basslink, connecting George Town in
Tasmania and Loy Yang in Victoria, has a
possible fault with the cable which is located approximately 100km off the Tasmanian coastline.
According to Pharos, the system was prepared and shipped within two days to the
customer.
Earlier this month, Tasmanian Government
informed about additional 30-day outage
caused by the fault in Basslink. The Government said the outage will not have any impact on the power prices.
We work with clients across the offshore Oil
& Gas, Submarine Telecoms and Renewable
Power industries. Our in-house expertise
includes highly skilled and experienced offshore technical professionals and on-shore
engineering management and operational
support teams. Pharos Offshore develops
subsea cable handling and burial solutions,
including vehicle and handling systems,
with a proven track record in taking projects from concept design, delivery, testing
and ongoing support.
We deliver innovative engineering solutions by combining state of the art technology with knowledge gained from real
operational experience. Pharos offshore
personnel are experienced in all major manufacturers of Remote Operated Vehicles,
Plough systems and Launch and Recovery
Systems. Our multi-disciplined team have
an extensive track record in subsea trenching, survey and ROV support.
PhotoSynergy Ltd.
PSL Releases New Product; Gets Harkand and Bibby Offshore Support
PhotoSynergy Ltd (PSL) has added a new
product to its subsea portfolio, the SLS2000,
developed to provide the option to illuminate the dive umbilical from the diver end.
The unit, with 30mm in diameter and
70mm length, was designed to provide a
light source to saturation divers using an
LED attached to the umbilical at the diver’s
end.
Operational sea trials of the unit are planned with existing clients following the
completion of final in-house tests and third
party pressure testing.
Furthermore, the company has included
PSL’s LIGHTPATH technology in its diving
operations and management guidance document.
PSL’s LIGHTPATH range has received supPage 94
port from the inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) specialists Harkand and Bibby Offshore.
PSL Director Don Walker said: “The recognition of the increased safety afforded to divers utilising the LIGHTPATH umbilical lighting concept by these companies marks a
significant step for PSL, and we very much
appreciate their support.
“We are very grateful for all the help and
guidance we have received over the past
few years from Harkand and Bibby Offshore
– the level of support they have shown has
been invaluable and helped us develop
LIGHTPATH further for more specific markets.
“We have been operating the LIGHTPATH
in the North Sea for the past three years,
and the general consensus among the dive
community is that divers feel safer using
the technology to illuminate saturation diver umbilicals, which enhances safety and
productivity for all parties, including the individual diver, colleagues in the water and
the bell-man.
“It also gives confidence to the ROV pilot as
(continues on p.95)
Company news
PhotoSynergy Ltd.
(continued)
PSL Releases New Product; Gets Harkand and Bibby Offshore Support
to the location of diver umbilicals, thus minimising the risk of collision and can significantly reduce the incidence of umbilical
snagging, both for saturation and surface
air divers.”
Jerry Starling, Harkand’s group diving manager, and a member of the IMCA diving
division management committee, said:
“Harkand is committed to the wellbeing
of its personnel and presenting the most
appropriate solutions for clients. As a company we have recognised that although
not a mandatory or industry specific requirement, LIGHTPATH further enhances the
diver’s ability to manage their umbilical,
improving their safety and simultaneously
delivering more efficient operations.
“Umbilical management is a key component of diver activity for both safety and
time saving reasons. We have found that
LIGHTPATH helps reduce recovery time as
the diver can track and identify their route back to the bell, as well as identify any
snags and entanglement of the umbilical
due to the variations in colour offered by
the equipment. It also ensures divers and
ROV pilots can constantly monitor that the
umbilical is clear during equipment deplo-
yment and recovery, which are generally
high risk activities.
“We look forward to working further with
PSL in the future.”
Bibby Offshore Diving Manager Ian Mitchell,
said: “Bibby Offshore regard the LIGHTPATH
as a significant safety enhancement and
use it as standard on all our DSVs. We are
pleased to be involved in the further development of the LIGHTPATH system and believe the SLS2000 will further enhance the
usefulness of the product and increase its
potential applications.”
(SOVs) to the offshore oil, gas and renewable energy sector.
“This partnership will allow us to increase
penetration in overseas markets such as the
Middle East, Brazil, Africa and Asia thanks to
the combined client bases both companies
possess. Furthermore we are dedicated in
developing our newest division GloMar
Subsea, the one-stop-shop offshore service
partner for all subsea operations such as
IRM, BoP, survey and ad-hoc diving,” GloMar
Offshore commented.
“The combination of the two companies,
the range of services and the size of fleet
we are now accessible too will allow us to
grow further in the supply chain of our current customers and expand globally,” added
Roderij Groen
Financial details of the transaction were not
disclosed.
Rederij Groen
Rederij Groen Buys into GloMar
Guard and seismic support vessels specialist, Rederij Groen from Scheveningen, has
acquired a 50 per cent stake in the GloMar
Group in Den Helder.
Glomar Offshore operates a fleet of diverse
purpose built vessels, equipment and personnel. It comprises of four divisions, providing emergency rescue and response
vessels, a range of subsea services as well
as offshore wind service operation vessels
ROVOP
ROVOP and WFS Join Forces to Slash OPEX
ROVOP, a remotely operated vehicle (ROV)
service provider, and WFS Technologies,
developer of wireless instrumentation and
control solutions, have teamed up in effort
to, reportedly, reduce certain operating
costs by up to 80% and extend asset life by
years.
To launch the collaboration, the two companies recently held a live demonstration of
ROV-deployed wirelessly enabled products
at ROVOP’s Aberdeen headquarters using
its underwater test facility and one its fleet
of light work class ROVs.
Applications for the technology include
fatigue monitoring by retrofitting instrumentation to platforms, moorings, and
other subsea structures that de-risk ageing
structures and enable life extension while
avoiding significant capex. The collaboration between the two companies allows, in
some cases, for the installation of monitoring systems, which are then paid for as an
operating expense over their useful life.
Steven Gray, ROVOP CEO, said: “ROVOP was
founded on a commitment to offer clients
the latest technology which has a positive
Page 95
impact on their bottom line. Our innovative
approach to ROV services has seen us leading cost-saving initiatives for clients and
WFS’ focus on next generation technology
is aligned to this strategy. We are delighted
to be working with WFS to install, service
and collect data from this key technology
of the future for our industry.”
Brendan Hyland, chairman at WFS, said:
“Subsea wireless is a key enabling technology to achieve the aggressive reductions
in operating costs required in today’s environment.”
Company news
Meriaura OY
Rumours: CS Aura sold?
There are rumours in the industry that the cable ship “Aura”
has been sold to a Chinese company. It is understood that that
company has cable installation
projects in the North Sea going
forward. The carousel and accommodation module was also
sold with the vessel. The “SEAREX”
trencher system has not been
sold with the vessel.
Seanamic Group
Umbilical International Sets Up Facility in Glasgow
Surface to seabed specialist, Seanamic
Group, is expanding its global umbilicals
business with a new Umbilical International
facility in Glasgow.
Initially it will offer umbilical repair and refurbishment for operators and contractors,
in the lead up to full umbilical and cable
manufacture.
Comprising Houston-based, Umbilicals International (UI) and Glasgow-based Caley
Ocean Systems, Seanamic supplies fully integrated umbilical and handling systems for
well intervention, workover and BOP (MUX
and direct Hydraulic), saturation diving and
subsea habitats, ROVs and submersibles.
Umbilicals International designs and manufactures custom dynamic thermoplastic
umbilicals and cables for the offshore and
seismic industries. The new UK facility will
extend Umbilical International’s reach.
“The decision to expand the Umbilicals International business was prompted by the
growing demand for dive umbilicals with a
number of recent new contracts for our integrated dive handling systems,” said Alasdair MacDonald, CEO, Seanamic Group.
The Renfrew-based umbilical facility
will offer the complete line of Umbilical
International’s diving range, as well as offering a full repair and testing service.
David Henderson, business development
manager, Seanamic said: “Although many
companies talk about designing and building an integrated system, only Seanamic is
100% in-house. Its value lies in the depth of
design experience with umbilical and LARS
systems. This translates into de-risking the
project both commercially and technically,
enabling customers to sidestep integration
issues – reducing project risk and cost.”
Soil Machine Dynamics
SMD Delivers Solwara 1 Seafloor Production Tools
Solwara 1 Joint Venture, comprising Nautilus Minerals and Eda Kopa (Solwara) Limited, has taken delivery of three seafloor
production tools (SPTs) from Soil Machine
Dynamics’ (SMD) facility in Newcastle upon
Tyne. The three SPTs are now en route to
Oman, where they are scheduled to undergo wet testing at Duqm Port. Nautilus plans
to use the SPTs to cut and extract high gra-
de copper and gold from the seafloor at the
Solwara 1 Joint Venture’s project site in the
Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea, with seafloor production operations planned to start
in Q1 2018.
Nautilus’ CEO, Mike Johnston, said “The Solwara 1 Joint Venture partners are delighted
to have achieved this major milestone and
we are looking forward to undertaking the
extensive wet testing program that we have
planned. Whilst the SPTs are the product of
extensive collaboration with a wide range
of industry leading groups, I would like to
make special mention of SMD. SMD’s world
leading expertise in the design, operation
and maintenance of deep water robotics,
cutting and trenching equipment has been
Page 96
instrumental in the development of the
SPTs. We look forward to continuing our relationship with SMD during the wet testing
program and into the production phase of
the Solwara 1 Project.”
Andrew Hodgson, SMD’s CEO, said: “It has
been an exciting time for us to have designed, built and now delivered these industry leading tools to Nautilus and its partner.
SMD, together with our parent company
China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation Limited are leading the way in the construction of remote mining and deep sea excavation technology. We look forward to
working with Nautilus on the continued
development of these and subsequent
tools.”
ADVERTORIAL
2016 ICPC Plenary
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The Case for Submarine Cables: Protecting and enhancing
the global environment with power and communications
The ICPC Plenary is a valuable opportunity to learn more of the social and economic
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Through to 31 January 2016, ICPC is seeking presentation abstracts from members
and non-members that address the commercial, legal, environmental, technical and
operational challenges of planning, operating and protecting submarine cables.
Recommended topics include: The Economic Case for Cables, Cable Protection—
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2016 Plenary exhibit space is also available to members and non-members
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The International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) was formed in 1958 and
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For additional information regarding the ICPC Plenary
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ion Co m
its primary goal is to promote the safeguarding of international submarine cables
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ICPC gratefully acknowledges its Host for the 2016 Plenary:
Page 97
Company news
Southern Cross Cable Network
SX US POP Expansion
Southern Cross Cable Network announced
that it is expanding its footprint to make
its international capacity services available
from a further four key data-centre locations across Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.
President & CEO, Anthony Briscoe, commented that part of the key strength of
Southern Cross has been its ability to deliver seamless, highly resilient, capacity solutions to its existing Point of Presence (POP)
access locations in Sydney Equinix SY1, 55
South Market San Jose (CoreSite SV1) and
the Westin Building Exchange (WBX) in
Seattle, along with its cable station access
points in Portland and Southern California.
“Southern Cross Ethernet services coupled
with our ability to deliver high bandwidth
to key content locations, has been extremely popular with our customers. Listening to
our customer requirements and being able
to quickly innovate and adapt to meet their
growing needs is something we pride ourselves on”, said Mr Briscoe.
“With that in mind, it is extremely pleasing
to announce that we have been working
closely with our Data Centre and US backhaul partners and will be extending our
POP access locations to further key sites on
the US West Coast, to include One Wilshire,
LA (CoreSite LA1); 600 West 7th, LA (Equinix
LA1); along with 529 Bryant Street, Palo Alto
(Equinix SV8) and 11 Great Oaks (Equinix
SV1) from early 2016.”
“Along with our existing key internet data
centre access points, these developments
further underline Southern Cross’ commitment and position as the only single system
provider of highly resilient innovative international capacity solutions between key
data locations in Australia, New Zealand,
the USA and Fiji.”
Southern Cross Cable Network
Southern Cross shareholders start work on future international cable roadmap
Spark New Zealand and Optus, the two
largest shareholders in the Southern Cross
Cable Network, said that they will jointly
begin industry discussions about future
international cable connectivity across the
South Pacific.
The major shareholders in Southern
Cross have agreed to work with the cable
network’s largest customers and other industry participants to explore options for
ensuring the future stability of International
sub-sea capacity supply between Australia,
New Zealand, and across the South Pacific
to North America.
Southern Cross CEO Anthony Briscoe said.
“This is not about short term supply or capacity – that is more than accommodated
by the current Southern Cross cable. Rather, it is about future-proofing the whole
region well beyond 2030, and ensuring there is a reliable and resilient supply of international bandwidth for the region to keep
us connected to the world.”
Mr Briscoe said advances in technology
over the last decade means Southern Cross
has already increased the capacity on the
current cable many fold, and has already
extended the life of its existing cable system to at least 2030.
“However given the lengthy lead times, and
the importance of a strong business and investment case for such a long-dated asset,
it’s now time to start considering how we
can ensure the connectivity needs of future
generations will be met,” Mr Briscoe said.
Spark New Zealand Managing Director Simon Moutter said: “We have already taken
the first steps towards ensuring that there
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is a long term supply strategy in place by
partnering with Vodafone and Telstra on
the Tasman Global Access (TGA) Cable.
Spark envisages a cable to take over from
the current Southern Cross cable will be the
next step in ensuring that New Zealand and
the Pacific region is well served by international capacity for the conceivable future.”
Optus CEO Allen Lew said: “The investment
case for any international cable is largely
dependent on firm commitments from key
customers well ahead of construction. So
the best way forward is to engage with the
international cable customers we already
have strong relationships with.”
Southern Cross will facilitate the discussions between shareholders and major customers.
Company news
Scottish and Southern Energy
SSE consults on burying subsea cables to Shetland’s isles
Electricity giant SSE (Scottish and Southern
Energy) is to launch a public consultation
on burying subsea cables to islands off the
Shetland Mainland, which could mean a
price rise to users.
Until now, cables have been laid on the
surface of the seabed but in future this may
have to be changed.
This follows the adoption in March last year
of the National Marine Plan (NMP) for all
activities in Scottish waters out to 200 nautical miles to achieve “clean, healthy, safe,
productive and diverse seas”.
The plan covers submarine cables throughout Scotland, which are at present laid
directly on the seabed but may have to
be protected, requiring “significant expenditure”.
This cost will have to be paid by customers
in the Scottish islands and across the north
of Scotland, and should see bills rise.
The programme of protecting the cables,
which could see them being buried for part
or all of their length – not all cables need to
be protected “end to end” – is a rolling one
which will come into force when cables
need to be replaced.
One third of all Scottish island cables are
replaced every eight years, and usually happens when they have been in place for 30
to 40 years.
The branch of SSE which deals with cables
is SHEPD, which proposed to spend £44
million over the next eight years on replacing 112 kilometres of submarine cables.
That figure was based on surface laying. But
the new rules mean that if the whole length
was to be protected it would cost £300 million.
In Shetland, it has already been agreed that
the cable from Lerwick to Bressay will be
buried 15 metres under the seabed. Burying cables requires the use of specialist
vessels and equipment.
Other cables due for replacement are between Yell and Unst, where two would be
replaced, and across Yell Sound, between
Mossbank and Yell, where there are two cables, one of which would be replaced.
The cost of installing protected cables
would mean an increase on the part of the
electricity bill which covers distribution,
which at present accounts for 16 per cent
of the bill.
Although there would be an expense in
protecting cables, there would be an eventual saving to SSE in costs of damage to cables caused by boats, or abrasion by weather. Protected cables should mean greater
reliability and SSE aims to get as many cables protected as possible. The public consultation is being carried out in response to
the NMP. It will focus on the impact on customers and fuel poverty, the environment
and “users of the marine environment” such
as the fishing industry.
Statkraft
Partial Privatisation Proposed for Statkraft
Norwegian parliamentary deputy Nikolai
Astrup and his fellow Conservative Party
members Odd Henriksen and Gunnar Gundersen have proposed partial privatisation
of the state-owned energy company Statkraft.
Astrup proposes carrying out an IPO to raise capital and help the company to expand
further in the international market.
“We want a new debate about the ownership of the group. Statkraft can grow from
being a European giant into an international giant, but it is not possible if the state
continues to be the sole owner,” the national media quotes Astrup as saying.
Private owners would bring the company
access to capital, expertise and flexibility,
making it better equipped for the international market, according to Astrup.
Geir Pollestad from the Norwegian Centre
Party has criticised the proposal and pointed out that the ruling Conservative Party
and the Progress Party have previously given guarantees that Statkraft will not be
privatised.
Statkraft’s CEO Christian Rynning-Tønnesen
said that it is up to the owner to decide on
the company’s ownership structure. He added that for Statkraft it is very important to
have predictability, long-term framework
Page 99
conditions and capital for investments,
which lay the foundation for future creation
of value.
The company recently adjusted its investment plan, giving up on further investments in offshore wind projects. Statkraft
said it would focus on maximising the value
of existing assets and projects that it has in
the offshore wind sector.
The company adjusted its investment plan
since its investment capacity had been reduced as a result of a revised dividend policy
from the Norwegian State.
Company news
Subsea Innovation
Subsea Innovation Makes New Appointments
Subsea Innovation has reinforced its senior
management team with the appointments
of a Non-Executive Director and a Business
Development Manager.
James Ritchie and Chris Wann have taken
up the respective roles.
James Ritchie joins the board whilst
maintaining the position of CEO at Tekmar
Energy.
“I am joining a strong company that is looking to grow into new markets with innovative products and solutions for the offshore
sector that is ideally placed to provide its
clients with efficient equipment that will
save time and money on projects. Its 25
year track record over such a varied product
range sets it apart from any other company
I have worked with” said Ritchie.
“The recent delivery of the Mattress Deployment System is evidence of Subsea
Innovation’s potential to develop new products from conceptual design to a finished
product.”
Chris Wann joins from Pipe Coil Technology
where he had the role of Business Manager.
He will be responsible for further driving
forward Subsea Innovation’s commercial
and business development for new products and new clients across the globe, the
company said.
Managing Director at Subsea Innovation,
Martin Moon, said: “Appointing James and
Chris greatly strengthens our commercial
and sales team and gives us the potential
to access new markets where our track record and experience can be demonstrated
for clients.
“James’s knowledge and contacts in the
offshore wind market will be an invaluable
asset to our company at a time when the oil
price is under pressure.”
Chris Wann is a degree qualified Mechanical Engineer and member of the Institution
of Mechanical Engineers.
Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance Institute
Taiwan Aims for 4 GW of Installed Offshore Wind Capacity by 2030
Taiwan expects its offshore wind energy
projects to attract TWD 2.5 billion (USD
74.6 million) of fresh investments in 2016,
with the sector projected to draw in a total
of TWD 670 billion of new investments by
2030, according to the country’s Bureau of
Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The country expects to average 300 MW of
installed capacity annually in the years to
come, with the total installed capacity reaching 4,000 MW by 2030, and not 3,000 MW
as previously planned.
The projections were presented this week
during the ”2016 Offshore Wind Farm Financing Workshop” organised by the Taiwan
Academy of Banking and Finance Institute
(TABF). The workshop attracted more than
200 participants from domestic and foreign
Page 100
financial and insurance sectors.
The aim of the workshop was to bring together foreign offshore wind project financing experts and domestic financial
and insurance industry professionals to
identify ways in which Taiwan’s substantial
offshore wind potential could attract the
investments needed for the projections to
materialize.
Company news
TenneT
TenneT Spins Turntables at Eemshaven
Electricity transmission system operator,
TenneT, has officially opened a special cable storage facility in Eemshaven, the Netherlands.
The facility provides 2.309 square meters
of floor space, enabling the storage of up
to 4,600 tonnes of high-voltage electricity cables. The cables concerned measure
between 10 and 24 cm in diameter, with
weights ranging from 30 to 100 kg per me-
ter.
TenneT needs these cables for subsea
connections that link offshore wind farms
(OWFs) to the onshore grid, and for offshore
direct-current interconnectors (DCI) like the
NorNed cable between the Netherlands
and Norway and the planned COBRA cable
between the Netherlands and Denmark.
The storage facility includes two turntables that are used to roll up the cables.
Each turntable is divided into six sections,
allowing storage of twelve different cable
systems at any given time to a total of 2,300
tonnes. The facility in Eemshaven allows
vessels to moor in front of it, facilitating
quick and efficient loading and unloading
of cables. The facility is also located near the
converter station for the NorNed cable and
the planned landing point of the COBRA
cable.
Furthermore, previous plans for the
construction of an Offshore Maintenance
Centre (OMC) in the north of the Netherlands have been shelved for the time being.
Such an OMC was initially envisaged as a
base of operations for personnel involved
in maintenance work on the transformer
platforms and offshore grid connections
for German and future Dutch OWFs north
of the Wadden Sea. Since there are no current plans for new OWFs in this sector of
the North Sea, an OMC in the north of the
country is not necessary at this time. Maintenance personnel working on TenneT’s
offshore projects currently do not need an
onshore base of operations, because they
will perform their work mainly on the offshore platforms or using those platforms as
their base of operations.
TenneT
TenneT Shelves Offshore Maintenance Centre Plan
TenneT has abandoned its plan for the
construction of an Offshore Maintenance
Centre (OMC) in the north of the Netherlands for the time being.
Page 101
The company had planned to set up the
OMC as a base for maintenance work on
the transformer platforms and offshore grid
connections for German and future Dutch
offshore wind farms north of the Wadden
Sea. Since there are no current plans for
new offshore wind farms in this sector of
the North Sea, building the OMC in the
north of the country is not necessary at this
time, TenneT explained.
Maintenance personnel working on
TenneT’s offshore projects currently do not
need an onshore base of operations, because they will perform their work mainly
on the offshore platforms or using those
platforms as their base of operations, the
company added.
According to Dutch media, TenneT was
eyeing two locations for the maintenance
base: Eemshaven and Groningen.
Company news
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office
UK Helps Develop India’s Offshore Wind, First Tendering Process Expected in 2018
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office is
funding a project under which a consortium of three British consultancies will support the Government of India in setting up
its offshore wind industry.
IT Power Consulting, CmY Consultants and
SeaChange Offshore will deliver a 10-month
long project that is focusing on the delivery of a concession competition process for
new offshore wind projects and a financial
model to better estimate the costs of future
Indian offshore wind farms.
The Government of India’s Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been
developing a policy dedicated to offshore
wind for the past few years and had this approved by the Cabinet in September 2015.
With the policy now in place, the companies will help MNRE better understand project costs and the requirements of project
developers, and spend time engaging with
the local industry to obtain feedback on the
competition process and to determine the
level of interest in offshore wind projects in
India.
MNRE and the nodal agency, National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), are taking a
strategic approach in the formation of the
industry and will use the coming two years
to collect offshore wind measurements and
gather site data to help plan the first projects and future pipeline.
It is currently anticipated that the competition for the first offshore wind projects will
start in early 2018 and be open to both international and local applicants.
The consultancy consortium said that its
current project intends to consult industry
in the coming months and will soon publish details on how companies can register
their interest to be part of this consultation.
UTEC Survey
UTEC Survey Names New Head of Finance
UTEC Survey, an Acteon company, has
appointed Caroline McGovern as its new
Head of Finance.
Before joining UTEC, Caroline was the CFO
for MOL Energy UK where she was a founding director of the business which grew to
comprise ownership of 20 North Sea exploration and production licenses. Prior to that,
Caroline was Finance Manager for EnQuest
PLC, where she spent four years leading and
supporting the finance function through
their initial IPO listing on the UK stock market, and the company’s subsequent asset
consolidation and growth period
Brendan Ryan, UTEC Chief Operating Officer, states: “I look forward to the contribution Caroline’s experience and expertise will
bring to our team. She will play an integral
role in the leadership team as we navigate a
challenging market environment while also
advancing UTEC’s growth agenda.”
Caroline is a Chartered Accountant with the
Scottish Institute (ICAS) and holds a bachelor of science degree in Business Management Studies and a Diploma in Marketing.
Vodafone Portugal
Vodafone Portugal says submarine cable too expensive
The CEO of Vodafone Portugal, Mario Vaz is
in favour of further regulatory measures on
access to submarine cables that connect
the mainland and the islands of Azores and
Madeira.
The access, which is under PT's control, represents a battlefront between operators in
Portugal.
At issue are the prices charged by PT. Although last year regulator Anacom forced
Page 102
PT to reduce the rental price by 50 percent,
Vaz said the action "falls short", adding that
Vodafone is not present in the autonomous
regions because the costs are too high to
justify.
Company news
Volstad Maritime AS
Grand Canyon III Delivery Postponed
Volstad Maritime AS, Myklebust Verft AS
and Canyon Offshore Ltd have come two
an agreement to put off the delivery of the
Grand Canyon III.
The offshore construction vessel was scheduled for delivery on February 01, 2016, however, according to Volstad’s Oslo filing, the
delivery has been rescheduled for May 01,
2016.
The vessel arrived to Myklebust Verft in November 2014 for outfitting. This is a sister
ship of Grand Canyon, which has been in
operation since 2012 and Grand Canyon II,
named and delivered in March 2015 in Åle-
sund, Norway.
Volstad originally placed the orders with
Bergen Group Fosen, but the projects were
moved to Kleven in March 2014. The new
building numbers assigned to these sister
vessels are 376 and 377.
Both vessels are designed by Ålesund based design company Skipsteknisk (ST-259
CD).
The Grand Canyon III is approximately 128
m long, and with accommodation for 104
persons.
Volstad Shipping AS
Volstad Turns Down DeepOcean’s Charter Termination
Norway’s Volstad Shipping has received a
charter termination notice from DeepOce-
an AS for the vessel Volstad Surveyor.
Volstad Surveyor is a 85.3 meters long
multipurpose DP II vessel of ST-253 design
built for hull and ROV based seabed mapping and surveys, structural inspection and
construction support operations.
The vessel was mostly engaged on Norwegian Continental Shelf performing seabed
survey services for Statoil in 2015.
Volstad Surveyor was delivered from Freire
Shipyard in Vigo, Spain, May 2010. On October 01, 2011, Volstad Shipping entered into
Page 103
a 5-year charter party with DeepOcean.
According to the charter party the contract
period would expire 30 September 2016.
Volstad Shipping said it strongly disagrees
with DeepOcean AS and has in consultation with its legal advisors rejected the termination as without merits.
“Volstad Shipping AS will now consider
the implications of the termination for the
company and claim damages from DeepOcean AS for all relevant losses,” the company
said in Monday’s Oslo filing.
outlook
Edition No. 165 “ ...will be ready mid of March 2016.”
Dear reader of www.SubCableNews.com,
I hope you enjoyed reading the Issue No.164 of SubCableNews, the Newsletter for the whole industry involved in the
submarine ­cable market.
I always try to be up to date with all the information available. Any contribution is welcome and should be forwarded
to the editor.
Best regards
Your Eckhard Bruckschen
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