Cable Stabilisation Work to Start at Two Ørsted Offshore Wind Farms in UK

April 3, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

Rock placement operations are set to start this month at Walney 1 & 2 and West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farms in the UK to stabilise several sections of subsea cables at the wind farms, both owned by Ørsted.

Illustration; The Rollingstone vessel at an offshore wind farm; Photo source: DEME

The work will be carried out by DEME’s DP2 fallpipe vessel Rollingstone.

At West of Duddon Sands Offshore Wind Farm, Rollingstone will perform rock placement around two wind turbines and the project’s offshore substation, starting on 14 April, subject to weather conditions.

The cable stabilisation work at the 389 MW offshore wind farm, located in the East Irish Sea some 14 kilometres off Walney Island, is expected to be completed around 21 April, also depending on weather conditions.

The West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm comprises 108 Siemens Gamesa 3.6 MW wind turbines and has been fully operational since October 2014.

After completing its task at West of Duddon Sands, Rollingstone will move to the Walney 1 & 2 offshore wind farm, where the vessel is scheduled to stay until 1 May doing the same work.

At Walney 1 & 2, also located offshore Walney Island, rock will be placed around two offshore substations and one wind turbine.

The 367 MW wind farm, which has been in operation since 2012, consists of Walney 1 and Walney 2 sites, each comprising 51 Siemens Gamesa 3.6 MW wind turbines and one offshore substation.