During the two first weeks of September, Wirescan had been performing LIRA measurements on three different export cables in the German North Sea.
The assignments were both baseline measurements (fingerprint) and second measurement for condition monitoring. The tests were performed from both the onshore and offshore substation of three different wind farms. The LIRA system can be used on power cables of several hundred kilometers, and for TenneT Offshore this is extremely valuable, as their longest HVDC cable is 200km. The LIRA system provides a signature of the complete cable, with indications at the known joints.
The measurements were saved, and will be compared with future measurements, to establish a trend of the cable condition. Then, TenneT Offshore will get an early warning if a damage and potential future failure is developing in the cable. In addition, the baseline measurements are used for fast and accurate fault location.
The export cables have a land section and a sea section, and there are huge cost benefits in location the failure accurately, to start the process of cable repair. Wirescan AS will continue to test the TenneT Offshore export cables.
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Press release; Image: TenneT