Submarine cable
asset management gets smarter

Submarine cable asset management gets smarter

Prysmian’s new enhanced asset management solution helps TSO and off shore operators preventing subsea cable damages, while minimizing downtime and costs in the event of an interruption of availability.

In an increasingly interconnected and decentralised energy environment, submarine connections play a critical role in enabling transmission via interconnector or power supply from off shore wind farms. Laid down inwater depths varying from few to hundreds of meters beneath sea level, subsea cables are threatened by damaging devices, such as anchors and fi shing gears– as proven by the 90 cable damages that have occurred over the last seven years, totaling over €350 million in insurance claims.

Preventing these kinds of events and being able to resolve problems quickly – while minimizing downtime – is crucial to transmission and off shore facilities operators, who could potentially suff er severe losses in the event of an interruption of availability.

To this purpose, the Group set up Power Link Cable Solutions aimed at providing complete, eff ective management of subsea cable asset lowering downtime and remarkably reducing long term asset risk and OPEX.

Advanced real-time monitoring systems and a fully-equipped maintenance marine base are key to predicting and detecting arising issues, while helping operators prepare for every kind of intervention to recover damaged cables.

Power Link Cable Solutions is the result of the Prysmian Group’s subsea cables know-how and extensive experience, cutting-edge technology, superior installations capabilities all integrated in a one-stop enhanced solution able to provide the best holistic asset management for submarine cable assets available in the market Based on PRY-CAM technology – Prysmian’s own cloud-based asset monitoring system – the solution guarantees 24/7 remote subsea cable control, featuring non-invasive measurement and deep diagnostic information, including programmed intervention to prevent any system malfunctions.

The base’s location being just few days from all main Northern Europe offshore locations is strategic, since there will be 20,000 km of HVDC marine cable installed in Northern Europe by 2030, according to a European offshore grid infrastructure study. With an average range of 0.5-2.0 damages per 1,000 km of installed subsea cable per year, there are likely to be between 10 and 40 cable repair required in the North Sea per year by that date.

Today, the average repair time of a submarine cable – from fault detection to full recovery – takes between 3 and 5 months, while costing several millions. The new service enhanced asset management solution halves cable outage times, leading up to a 50% total loss reduction.

MILESTONE LINK CELEBRATED 50 YEARS

It was year 1967 when Prysmian took into operation of the HVDC submarine cable system built for the SA.CO.I. interconnection, linking Sardinia’s electricity grid with mainland Italy. With an installed capacity of 300 MW and 450 metres marine depth reached, the project was a crucial milestone in the history of cable systems industry.

Late last year Prysmian Group celebrated the 50 years of the connection along with a new world record in its history:  with half a century in operation, SA.CO.I. is also the longest in-service HVDC submarine cable link and continues to be an important energy interconnection between Sardinia and the continent.