Posters

Abstract

Floating wind energy offers significant potential in the renewable energy transition by unlocking power generation in deeper waters. However, many enabling technologies—particularly dynamic subsea cables—face their greatest challenges not in the deepest sites, but in the intermediate “shallow-to-deep” zone (100–200 m). A critical gap remains in the development of high-voltage dynamic export cables, which differ fundamentally from lower-voltage inter-array cables. While recent advances in water barrier technology have made such cables feasible, the barrier itself remains a mechanical weak point. This limitation is especially pronounced in shallow waters, where excessive curvature can compromise both ultimate limit state (ULS) and fatigue limit state (FLS) performance. Additional complexity arises from large platform offsets and the use of truncated cable configurations. In the ConnectFOW project, Nexans is investigating the technical feasibility of suspending dynamic export cables from floating substations in water depths ranging from 100 – 900 meters. One of the cases studied was a 320 kV DC cable suspended from a floating substation in the Celtic Sea at a water depth of approximately 100 meters. In the study, we evaluated the influence of key parameters—including cable geometry, cable heading, floater orientation, and offset—on cable performance to find a solution. In this paper, we will present the applied methodology, sensitivity analyses, and findings, providing new insights into the design and operability of dynamic export cables in challenging shallow-to-deep water environments.