Subsea cable failures cost industry millions, says IMCA

The IMCA Code of Practice for offshore cable laying in the renewable energy industry paper is available to IMCA members, and includes details of general and specific methods for cable lay, burial, trenching and jetting.

IMCA has released the paper because of some estimates putting the cost of subsea cable failure for offshore wind at more than £500 million (€572 million) in 2020, the average insurance claim worth more than £3 million (€3.4 million), and an estimated 30% failure rate in any given year, it says.

“The Code addresses issues for the safe laying and terminating of offshore power cables to prevent damage, a significant challenge for offshore wind where rates of failure result in millions worth of loss to everyone involved in delivery – including contractors, developers, and insurers,” says IMCA.

“At the point at which cables leave the laying vessel and meet the seabed, they are frequently subject to damage caused by over-bending, cable-pulling, and inadequate design of lead into the monopile.

“In addressing issues such as the laying spread – the combined set of systems required for the installation of the cable – as well as the interface between the vessel and the spread, and the safest methodology for overboarding, trenching and cable pulling, the IMCA Code of Practice establishes a new baseline for safely laying offshore submarine power cables which will significantly improve performance.”

Mark Ford, Marine & Quality manager with IMCA, said 90% of insurance claims were made for power cables dmaaged during installation, and the code would help contractors reduce this figure.

“Contractors have come together to share their experiences around the design, testing, operation and maintenance of cable laying, the specialised equipment and technology used, and how it interfaces with supporting vessels,” he said. “Decades of experience gained through the installation of thousands of kilometres of offshore cables has helped us to find tangible solutions for the industry as a whole.”

The Code of Practice is available to IMCA members to download here.