Cables Laid at MeyGen

Atlantis has completed the laying of four subsea cables at MeyGen.

The four cables are housed in individual bore holes of approximately 0.5km each, drilled earlier this year, which run from the foreshore into the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth and down to the seabed. From the exit of the borehole, the cables then run along the seabed to the offshore project site, where four 1.5 MW tidal turbines will be deployed next year. The cables will connect the tidal turbines to the onshore substation, from where the power will be fed into the wider grid.

Cable reels were loaded onto the vessel Siem Daya 1 in Hartlepool last week and then transported to the MeyGen site in Caithness. Work from the vessel commenced on Monday and the team completed the cable laying works in the early hours of this morning, installing some 11 km of cable. The vessel is now on her way back to Hartlepool.

The installation process entails pulling the cable from the vessel through the bore using an onshore winch. Once the end of the cable is secured onshore, the vessel lays the offshore end out to the turbine site along a pre-determined route.

The principal contractor for all of MeyGen’s offshore works is James Fisher Marine Services Ltd.

Tim Cornelius, CEO of the Atlantis group, said:

“This is an excellent result for the project. By its very nature the offshore site is a challenging tidal environment, and to complete the installation campaign safely and in line with the programme is a commendable achievement by our onshore and offshore teams, aided by great performance from the vessel. After all the planning it is very rewarding to see the offshore infrastructure taking shape for this trail-blazing project.”

Image: Atlantis