Roxtec Supplies Scotland’s Largest Offshore Windfarm

International manufacturer Roxtec has supplied a package of specialist cable sealing solutions to Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm.

Roxtec UK marine and offshore director John Kayes said the firm delivered fireproof and watertight seals to secure high voltage cables on substations within the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL).

The £2.6billion energy project is located in the Outer Moray Firth, around 13km from the Caithness coast. Once fully operational the 84-turbine operation is expected to generate up to 588MW, powering 450,000 homes.

Mr. Kayes said Roxtec’s products are designed to protect people and assets from hazards including fire, flooding, explosion and electromagnetic disturbances.

“Roxtec has supplied a series of customized and standard sealing solutions for substations within the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm,” he said. “This includes openable sleeves for transformer feeds, arrays and busducts, along with transits for high voltage and medium voltage cables. In addition, we delivered seals for earth cables and HVAC pipes as well as low voltage transits for small power and control. Low voltage transits were used for cable tubes on a total of 84 jackets.

S frame for LV cables

“Roxtec was selected for a number of reasons. Our sealing solutions provide certified protection and offer huge flexibility for multiple cables and pipes of different sizes. Our seals are A-60 fire rated and watertight according to marine classification. Moreover, they are built with spare capacity for future upgrades while our engineers provide close quarter design support to ensure solutions are tailor made for each individual project.” Onshore construction began in Moray in May 2016 and offshore construction began in April 2017. Beatrice will be energized in phases and will be fully operational in 2019.

Mr. Kayes said Roxtec has built a strong reputation in the renewables market having worked with Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd, which supplied and installed two offshore substations for the first 630MW phase of London Array, two at Gwynt Y Mor and 1 at Dudgeon offshore windfarms.

“The Beatrice wind farm project is set to transform energy resources in North Scotland providing enough power for more than three times the number of homes currently in the Moray and Highlands region,” he said. “It adds to our growing portfolio of work in the renewables sector having supplied more than 50 offshore windfarms in Europe.

“Roxtec’s cable seals can be used within a broad variety of applications including generator systems, switch rooms, converters, towers, the nacelle, transition pieces, control cabinets, power converter cabinets, davit cranes, onshore grid substations and offshore converter stations. The versality and durability of our products are two of their greatest assets and remain highly valued by the offshore sector.”