MacArtney winches for offshore wind farm project

The Borkum Riffgrund Offshore Wind Farm 2 is located in the North Sea approx. 55 km off the north-west coast of Germany and is one of the world’s biggest offshore wind farms. The wind farm consists of 56 wind turbines, and it is going to power 460,000 homes annually.

MacArtney winches provide a high degree of reliability during operation and are intended for operation on the Borkum Riffgrund offshore wind farm. They represent robust and energy-efficient features for pulling both inter array cables and export cables into the substation which forms the heart of the wind farm collecting and exporting power generated by turbines through specialised submarine cables.

Scope of supply

The scope of supply of this Fulgor/Hellenic Cables order for the offshore wind farm project includes two MacArtney 150 kN and 200 kN electrical cable pulling winches. The purpose of the winches is to bring inter array cables and export cables from the seabed onto the substation deck. The power cables are to be pulled through a number of J-tubes onto the substation for connection. The 200 kN winch is a stationary winch for pulling export cables, and the 150 kN winch rorates 360 degrees, enabling a straight pull to all J-tubes. The pull is generated through 260 m steel wire, 15 t work load, and 320 m steel wire, 20 t workload, for the 150 kN and 200 kN winches respectively.

Features and benefits

MacArtney supplies additional equipment consisting of a DNV approved password-secured ‘capacity reduction mode’ which enables cable installers to use smaller sheave blocks to install the inter array cables. In addition, the supply includes an integrated data logger with an extra large 15.4 inch HMI, and 360 degrees rotation for optimised operation, which reduces the costs of reversible units and sheave blocks.

Proven technology and ingenuity

MacArtney specialises in the design and manufacture of offshore cable handling systems for the renewable energy industry, in particular the offshore wind sector and its electrical infrastructure. The MacArtney cable-pulling winch systems serve an important function: to help the substations stabilise and maximise the voltage of power generated offshore, reduce potential electrical losses, transmit electricity to shore, and do so in a manner that supplies the greatest return on investment.

Having built up expertise as a multi-disciplined engineering, procurement, and construction contractor, MacArtney delivers challenging subsea projects from concept to completion.