Protected performance for the world’s largest floating windfarm
Bend Control solutions
This floating wind turbine project is truly unique. The project, which is being headed up by The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan, will be the world’s largest floating wind farm once complete. Located 16 kilometers off the coast of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, it is being developed in wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami which hit Fukushima in March 2011.
The Fukushima Wind Farm project is a major milestone in the switch
from nuclear to renewable for the region. The project, known as
Fukushima FORWARD, is part of a bigger scheme to reconstruct the
area. Trelleborg supplied the experimental phase one of this pioneering
project with its high performance cable buoyancy and protection in 2013
and supplied additional high performance cable protection, for phase two
of this prestigious project in 2014.
A pioneering project Trelleborg was awarded the contract to supply the Furukawa Electric
Company with its high performance cable buoyancy and protection
in 2013, supplying a significant number of Distributed Buoyancy
Modules (DBMs), Uraduct, Bend Stiffeners and Bend Restrictors for the
experimental phase of this pioneering project.
In floating production scenarios, subsea electrical power cables are
used to inter-connect wind turbines on offshore windfarms and also run
between the substation (electrical hub of the windfarm) and the shore.
Trelleborg’s high performance DBMs are designed to secure, guide and
protect these power cables from excessive movement and bending that
could cause fatigue damage.
Building on success In the wake of a successful phase one supply, Furukawa Electric once
again turned to Trelleborg to supply a range of high performance cable
protection, for phase two of this prestigious project.
In floating production environments, subsea electrical power cables
are used to inter-connect floating structures on offshore windfarms and
also run between the substation (electrical hub of the windfarm) and
the shore. Trelleborg’s high performance DBMs are designed to secure,
guide and protect these power cables from excessive movement and
bending that could cause fatigue damage.
Trelleborg provided its distributed buoyancy modules (DBM), bend
stiffeners with dynamic bend stiffener connectors (DBSC), Uraduct™
cable protection and bend restrictors to phase two of the project.
Proving punctual performance The initial project is a five year trial in which different floating structures
are tested prior to the main windfarm being constructed, with three
floating wind turbines and one floating sub-station being tested as part
of the experiment. Following its completion in 2020, it is estimated there
will be further floating structures.The initial supply from Trelleborg is for
cable buoyancy and protection for the first wind turbine.
This contract was just the latest for Trelleborg within the growing
Renewables sector, following on from previous contract wins such as the
Statoil Hywind project off the coast of Norway and the Windfloat project
off the coast of Portugal.
The second phase of this prestigious project depended on working
to tight timelines. With the input of Trelleborg’s specialist teams, all
products were delivered exactly to schedule and in accordance with
Furukawa Electric’s strict deadline.
“Trelleborg is renowned for its market-leading solutions and systems for the offshore oil and gas industry, its extensive experience in developing custom-made solutions for each project meant it was the natural choice.
“We awarded the contract to Trelleborg as not only did it have an extremely strong track record in regards to its industry knowledge and manufacturing capabilities, its well established products are of exceptionally high quality and the team could deliver the final products to meet the project timescales.” Furukawa Electric 2013
“Japan is very well suited for the offshore windfarm projects due to its steep coastal shelf and deep water, so it’s extremely encouraging to see that area is fully embracing floating windfarm technology. As a leader in the field, we are confident that Trelleborg is well positioned to take advantage of this rapidly expanding sector.” John Deasey, Renewables Sales Manager at Trelleborg
Offshore