Beatrice Offshore Windfarm
Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Demonstrator Project
Talisman Energy (UK) Ltd and Scottish and Southern Energy, partners in the Beatrice windfarm, awarded JDR a contract to design, manufacture and test two composite inter-array subsea power cables. JDR’s cable package was required to control two jacket platform based wind turbines, linking them to the Talisman operated Beatrice oil platform.
The Beatrice project, for a ‘distant’ deepwater offshore windfarm, was initially conceived in 2001. The demonstrator project comprises two 5MW wind turbine generating units, located 25km from shore on the seabed, linked to the Beatrice AP oil platform by a subsea cable. The energy generated by the turbines is used to power the Beatrice AP platform. The project is planned to run for five years and will examine the feasibility and benefits of creating a commercial deepwater wind farm at this site.
JDR’s cable package comprised two composite bundles of 970m and 1920m. Each bundle included 3 phase 70mm² 33kV power cores, data cables, back-up power cables and fibre optic communications. The cables were designed by the JDR team to the smallest possible diameter, while maintaining the strength and weight for the field installation and service conditions. The termination package includes JDR’s in-house developed and designed high strength flexible pull-in head. JDR’s aftermarket and installation team provided experienced and certified technicians to terminate the cables and fibre-optics offshore during the installation phase.
The Beatrice Offshore Windfarm is part of the European Union’s DOWNVInD (Distant Offshore Windfarms with No Visual Impact in Deepwater) project. DOWNVInD was established as a catalyst to commercialised deepwater wind farm technology. There are 14 different participants from six countries involved in DOWNVInD. It is Europe’s largest renewable energy research and technology development programme.
JDR is proud to have played a role in a project that has pioneered the development of deepwater windfarms. The project has developed knowledge on the environmental impact of offshore wind farms and created an opportunity to share knowledge and best practice across Europe.
The Beatrice A complex is the centre for gathering and processing oil from Talisman’s Beatrice Field. The production and drilling facility is operated by 40 workers and currently produces over 5,000bbls/day, exported via pipeline to the onshore oil terminal at Nigg on the north coast of Scotland.