Nexans cable technology has been selected by VBMS for Blyth Offshore Demonstrator, the world’s first 66 kV offshore wind farm.

Nexans cable technology has been selected by cable laying contractor VBMS for Blyth Offshore Demonstrator, the world’s first 66 kV offshore wind farm. The contract for inter-array and export cables follows qualification of Nexans’s 66 kV cable technology in The Carbon Trust programme.
Under its own contract with EDF Energy Renewables, VBMS will use the 66 kV cable system to provide the subsea connection between the offshore turbines and the onshore grid for the Blyth project. The 66 kV technology has been designd to improve the lifecycle cost-efficiency compared to 33 kV systems as offshore WTGs grow in size.
The Blyth project, located 5.7 km off the port of Blyth in Northumberland, UK, consists of three arrays with five wind turbine generators each. Its export cable will be manufactured and tested at Nexans’ factory in Hanover, Germany, before it is supplied in one length in 2017. The related connectors will be manufactured at the Nexans facility in Erembodegem, Belgium.
Matthias Kirchner, director of Medium Voltage Submarine activity at Nexans, said : “Nexans recently completed its qualification for 66 kV XLPE insulated submarine cable systems (cable and accessories) as part of the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) programme, supported by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Scottish government. The design and efficacy of our aluminum laminated polyethylene sheath is widely recognised by experts in the industry.”