ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) is providing industrial sponsorship for Proserv Controls’ Electro Cable Guard (ECG) disruptive subsea cable condition monitoring system for the offshore wind market.
The sponsorship agreement will see SPR provide its expertise and resource both from a cable owner and operator perspective, bringing knowledge into the project to assist in the ongoing development and ultimate functionality of ECG.
The input is expected to help the future commercialization of the system. The plan is to have the technology demonstrated on a UK commercial-scale wind farm in Q2/Q3 2022.
The solution incorporates multiple parameters such as distributed temperature, acoustic and electrical sensing, with synchronous, real-time monitoring across an asset and continuous automated data analysis.
Machine learning will be integrated into the system, so that, once fully engaged, minute anomalies in performance, even within normal operating boundaries, will be detected, potentially indicating future issues requiring remedial action, Proserv said.
It is anticipated that the capabilities of ECG will lead to huge advances in the way subsea cables are managed, reducing the incidence of faults and failures on offshore wind farms in the future.
“This industrial sponsorship commitment from ScottishPower Renewables is a vital step forward for our ECG project. To have such key end user support throughout the development ensures that our subsea cable monitoring solution sits front and centre of what the industry needs and wants,” said Proserv’s business development director – Renewables, Paul Cook .
“SPR recognises there is a critical requirement for an innovation in the offshore wind industry that monitors cables using a methodology that goes way beyond what is available today within the market.”
Proserv’s agreement with SPR comes months after the ECG project received two-thirds of its £1.5 million development costs via a Smart Grant from Innovate UK. The remaining sum is being supplied by the respective members of the consortium.
Consortium partners in the project are Synaptec, a power system monitoring firm, and cable engineering specialists BPP Cable Solutions.