Pre-lay plough cuts offshore cost and risk

The PLP240 is optimised to help deliver reductions in the cost of offshore wind installation and to minimise project risk by combining operations to reduce the time required to install subsea cables. GMG worked with offshore technology company Osbit and Vattenfall, its first client for the new plough, to design the tool.

Martyn Drye, director of engineering at Global Marine Group, said, “Our new PLP240 will allow us to reduce the time to first power production by shortening the wind farm construction phase, and therefore delivering an earlier return on investment for our developer clients.

“Through intelligent engineering alongside the Osbit team, we’ve created a versatile solution which integrates cable route preparation, cable laying and trenching – an industry first.”

Precision

The plough offers maximum single pass capability, which enables boulder clearance and pre-trenching up to 1.7m in a single run, leaving a boulder cleared swathe and a ‘backfill-ready’ open trench with segregated spoil.

It is also fully subsea adjustable and features an extensive surveillance suite for accurate and effective trenching. The plough can be reconfigured into backfill mode, which uses the same control and surveillance suite to monitor the cable and trench profile, enabling reliable backfilling whilst ensuring the safety of the cable at all times.

The PLP240 will undergo wet testing before commencing work on Vattenfall’s Danish Kriegers Flak project in 2020.

By Rebecca Jeffrey