Global Underwater Hub (GUH) is leading the charge to tackle failures in underwater cables which could derail global offshore wind ambitions.
GUH, the trade body which champions the UK’s £8 billion (€9.5 billion) underwater industry, says that reliability of subsea cables is “paramount” to the success of offshore wind and the energy transition.
But failure of these cables is all too common, to the point that the cost of insuring them is becoming prohibitive.
“It’s estimated that around 85% of the total value of offshore wind insurance claims relate to subsea cables. Insurers are losing money underwriting cables with the average settlement claim in the region of GB£9million,” said Neil Gordon, GUH chief executive.
”Brokers have warned that the high number of cable claims is affecting capacity and coverage and the cost of repairs typically runs into millions, with warranties rarely covering the high cost of business interruption.”
Stark warning
Gordon warns that if these critical components become uninsurable, offshore wind projects around the world will be derailed, making global 2050 net zero targets completely unachievable.
Globally, more than £620 billion of investment in offshore windfarms is anticipated by 2030 and, for the world to hit net-zero emissions by 2050, the generating capacity from offshore wind must increase by a staggering 1,120GW.
“This scale of expansion and opportunity can only be achieved by installing and maintaining thousands of miles of reliable cables under the seabed,” added Gordon.
To this end, GUH has established the Subsea Cables Forum to bring industry together to develop a roadmap for improving the quality, reliability and therefore insurability, of cables, which is crucial to achieving global offshore wind ambitions, particularly in the nascent floating offshore wind arena.
This will involve the development of a set of industry-led, recognised standards and best practice guidelines, encompassing the life of the cable that would be adopted by developers, suppliers, contractors, warranty surveyors and others and accepted by insurance bodies.
