SeaRoc Group has completed the installation of the third SeaHub Communications System at the 1.2GW Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm’s Reactive Compensation Station (RCS).
Image: SeaRoc installs SeaHub communication system at Hornsea Project One. Photo: Courtesy of SeaRoc Group.
SeaRoc’s SeaHub system comes in an 8ft ISO DNV certified container, which houses all the equipment needed for communications and logistical data sharing for Hornsea Project One offshore wind project, located 120km from the coast.
The SeaHub system is claimed to have been designed specifically for continuous remote offshore operations without the need for frequent service.
It offers complete communication capabilities for remote, offshore locations that are outside the range of shorebased transmitters.
The system offers Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), VHF Marine, VHF Airband, Walk-in container or equipment cabinet, Satphones, 4G/LTE network coverage, VOIP services for communications.
The offshore wind farm, which is situated in the UK, is expected to be operational in 2020 and will overtake Walney Extension to become the biggest offshore wind farm in the world.
This is the third SeaHub system to have been installed on the RCS at the wind project and the seventh in total to support Ørsted UK’s projects including Race Bank, Burbo Bank Extension and Walney Extension.
SeaRoc group project manager for Ørsted, Anthony Collingridge, said: “This particular SeaHub has received some modifications in order to support the requirements of the Reactive Compensation Station on which it was installed.
“Due to size limitations of the platform, we had to adapt the SeaHub design utilising a smaller container specification than we had previously, whilst still incorporating all the same capabilities and remaining compliant with DNV requirements.”
The other two SeaHub units that the company has installed at the Hornsea Project One, have used a 10ft ISO DNV certified containers and included new feature to enhance the communication system’s performance.
The 10ft containers were installed with a 9 metre lattice tower in order to deploy critical communications antenna with sufficient height clearance from local obstacles to maximise VHF, AIS & UHF TETRA coverage around the site.