Extrusion International 4-2025-USA

52 Extrusion International 4/2025 WIRE & TUBE 2026 Dynamic Cables for a Dynamic Offshore Market Wind turbines are learning to swim. In the future, they will be installed far off the coasts, in harsh environments and in deep oceans. These floating offshore wind turbines will increasingly be used to take advantage of the strong and consistent winds, contributing to the energy transition. The enablers of this development? New dynamic high-voltage cables. O ffshore wind energy is already riding the wave – “it is set to grow worldwide, having recorded the sec - ond-highest number of new installations in 2023,” ex - plains the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). In 2023, the wind industry installed 10.8 GW of new offshore wind capacity, bringing the total global capacity to 75.2 GW. The amount of new capacity added was 24 percent higher compared to the previous year. Offshore market for the energy transition The GWEC projects that this growth rate will continue until 2030, if the political momentum lasts. The GWEC expects Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia, Ireland and Poland to be the next markets for offshore wind expansion. According to the GWEC, 410 GW of new offshore wind capacity will be installed over the next decade. This rapid expan- sion must be based, among other things, on increased cooperation between industry and government. And manufacturers of cable machines and cables are happy to make their contribution to this. Huge offshore potential of the deep sea An important piece of the puzzle for the offshore suc- cess story lies in harnessing the strong winds far from the coasts. Conventional offshore wind farms have so far been unable to take advantage of these inhospi- table areas far from dry land, where the ocean is more than 60 metres deep, and which account for 80 percent of the total sea area. This is unfortunate because, as the cable system man - ufacturer Nexans explains, “stronger and more consis - tent wind speeds translate to a more reliable source of energy”. The aim is to exploit the enormous potential of the deep sea in the future. Floating offshore wind turbines are now seen as a beacon of hope for sustainable en- ergy supply, as highlighted by the German Federal Min - istry of Education and Research, for example. Unlike conventional turbines, which are firmly anchored to the seabed, floating systems are more flexibly tethered to the seabed with mooring lines. Dynamic cables for floating offshore installations Cable system manufacturers such as Nexans have also long been focusing onwind power in the deep sea. “From 2031, floating wind turbines will account for more than ten percent of annual offshore wind installations, a re - markable achievement given the rapid expansion of off- shore wind energy as a whole,” the company explains. Cables, which are needed to transport the energy back to the shore, are “a crucial link for the future of floating wind power". This demands robust, dynamic high-voltage cables that capable of withstanding the harsh conditions at sea: Adynamic cablemoves in thewater and on the sea- bed, following the rhythm of the floating wind turbine. In2021,Nexansachieved“an importantbreakthrough” with the qualification of the first dynamic 145 kV cable for water depths of 1,300 metres. This cable was selected for the Jansz-lo project, located about 200 kilometres off Nezzy² in the Baltic Sea during storms – the Nezzy² floating wind turbine (1:10 model) from EnBW and aerodyn remains stable even during storms. The aim of the research project is to develop new offshore technology which involves the wind turbines floating on the surface of the water (Photo credit: Jan Oelker)