Cable Care – Service for High Voltage Cables Premiered at Hannover Messe (Germany)

At the Hanover Fair, ABB is exhibiting its complete portfolio of high voltage cables for direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) on an XLPE basis. For the first time, moreover, ABB is showcasing Cable Care – a support package that subsumes solutional options and the capability portfolio in the field of cable service for land and submarine cables not only from ABB but also for cables from other manufacturers.

The requirements applying for present-day power grids are being changed for ever by the energy shift Different systems for generating electricity from renewable energy sources are already a vital constituent of the utilities sector today. Offshore wind farms, in particular, will become increasingly important in the future. In Germany alone, by the year 2020 more than 5,000 kilometers (km) of submarine cable will be needed for links and internal cabling of offshore wind farms, worldwide more than 20,000 km. Given these very substantial quantities, both the statistical and the actual probability of a fault in the cable route rise significantly. Offshore, this will normally mean a standstill of several months before the cable has been repaired, with a concomitantly lengthy period of lost earnings.

In order to minimize the downtimes involved, an intelligent service strategy is vital, so that in the event of a fault the right equipment, the requisite spares, experienced repair teams and a suitable repair ship are ready within a minimized timeframe. The Cable Care approach is based on an exhaustive analysis of the project, enabling various fault scenarios to be identified at an early stage, plus the equipment that will be needed for the repair job. Then the necessary operating instructions, deck layouts and spares can be produced in preparation. Through long-term frame agreements with shipping lines, moreover, the necessary shipping capacities can be assured. This enables all the requisite steps to be initiated for a successful and time-saving fault repair job within a few short hours of a fault being reported on the 24/7 hotline, thus dramatically reducing the downtimes involved.

ABB’s service concept, however, includes not only repair work on cables, but also a holistic approach to consultancy, covering all areas from storing spares or specific replacement cables and staff training all the way through to regular maintenance and test scheduling. In addition to appropriately trained personnel, service personnel, ABB also has mobile service units possessing the requisite equipment for trouble-shooting. On the stand in Hanover, for example, ABB is showing what is called an “ROV” (remotely operated vehicle) – an underwater robot – which is able to move along a section of cable just above the sea bed and measure where a test signal is interrupted. This enables the location of the fault to be identified.

ABB is also exhibiting models of its highest-rated (420 kV) AC land and submarine cables. The DC land and submarine cables on show hold the record for a voltage level (±320 kV) in DC cable links.

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Press release, April 8, 2013; Image: ABB