wiredinUSA April 2014

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wiredInUSA - April 2014 37
The European Marine Energy Centre
(EMEC) Ltd will share learning on the
performance of subsea cabling in high
energy environments to support the
development of commercial wave and
tidal energy sites.
The project will see EMEC and Engineering
Technology Applications Ltd (ETA) review
existing data to assess the reliability of
subsea cables installed in the harsh wave
and tidal conditions at EMEC’s test sites at
Billia Croo, on the west coast of Orkney,
and the Fall of Warness, off the northern
island of Eday. To date there has been little
information published about how subsea
cables survive and perform in high energy
marine environments, and as commercial
waveand tidal sites around theUKenter the
initial planning phases, information on how
subsea cables may perform in areas such
as the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters
(PFOW) will be vital to project developers
and investors.
The reportwill cover cablearmoring,marine
growth, anthropogenic interactions, and
cable movements, as well as performance
of the cable, and will take factors such
as seabed type, current speed, wave
loadings, cable usage, cable type, and
installation methods into consideration.
Subsea cabling
study
EUROPE NEWS
What is believed will be the world’s third
largest offshorewind farmhas been cleared
for construction in the Moray Firth, off the
coast of Scotland. Formal consent has been
granted for adjacent projects by Moray
Offshore Renewables Ltd (MORL) and the
Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (BOWL) for
a total of 326 wind turbines.
The developments will be capable of
generating up to 1,866MW of electricity.
Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing said:
“The Scottish Government is committed to
thesuccessfulandsustainabledevelopment
of an offshore wind sector, which could
lead to a potential inward investment of
£30 billion and support up to 28,000 direct
jobs and a further 20,000 indirect jobs,
generating up to £7.1 billion for the Scottish
economy. As this industry develops, our
enterprise agencies are working to secure
supply chain development for Scotland.
“The Scottish government wants to see
the right developments in the right places,
and Scottish planning policy is clear that
the design and location of any onshore
and offshore wind farm should reflect the
scale and character of the landscape
or seascape and should be considered
environmentally acceptable.”
Scottish wind farms get
the go-ahead
Fergus Ewing,
Scottish energy minister