Technological trend of submarine power cable system for floating offshore wind

Offshore wind power has seen significant growth in the past decade. The total capacity across the world is expected to grow even up to 1,000 GW by 2050. Although most of the existing offshore wind turbines are built on fixed foundations, they are currently restricted to waters less than 60 metres deep. In contrast, floating foundations can be deployed for deeper waters even above 100 metre, which particularly appeals to some of the largest potential markets for offshore wind, such as Japan and the US, where there are few shallow water sites. Unlike conventional static power cable, dynamic power cable used for floating offshore wind is exposed to dynamic motion due to marine conditions, such as wave and tidal current. Therefore, it requires specific mechanical characteristics, such as fatigue resistance, torque balance and bending stiffness. Dynamic power cable system, including the subsea cable geometry, will be designed to achieve these characteristics and further be validated by performing static, dynamic and fatigue analyses. © 2021 The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.