UK 960 MW Offshore Wind Project Completes Installation of Two Nearly 1,800-Meter Submarine Cable Protection Ducts

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 15, ScottishPower, a UK subsidiary of Spanish energy group Iberdrola, announced that its East Anglia TWO offshore wind project, with an investment of approximately GBP 4 billion, has completed the installation of two submarine cable landfall protection ducts. The two ducts each measure nearly 1,800 meters in length and 800 millimeters in diameter, and were installed using horizontal directional drilling technology to cross the Suffolk coast and nearshore seabed in the UK, providing passage for the subsequent laying of high-voltage submarine export cables. The project has a planned installed capacity of 960 MW and is expected to enter commercial operation by the end of 2028.

The East Anglia TWO submarine cable landfall project adopted horizontal directional drilling (HDD) technology, with onshore and offshore construction equipment working in coordination to drill channels beneath the coast and seabed, and then pull polyethylene protection ducts into the boreholes. Both ducts use a continuous single-section structure, eliminating the need to excavate trenches on the beach, dunes, or coastal surface during construction. ScottishPower confirmed that the combination of duct length and diameter set a UK record for similar power transmission cable landfall projects, and the length of a single continuous extruded duct also set a global record.

OCU Group served as the main contractor, with its subsidiary Peter McCormack & Sons participating in the construction, which provided more than 80 jobs during the construction period. The ducts were manufactured by Pipelife Norway, with an actual length of 1,793 meters, formed in a single piece using a continuous extrusion process without the need for welded joints. After production at the Stathelle factory in Norway, the ducts were transported by sea tow to the Thorpeness construction site in the UK for landfall installation.

East Anglia TWO is located in the southern North Sea in the UK, approximately 33 kilometers from the Suffolk coast at its closest point and about 37 kilometers from Lowestoft. The project plans to install 64 offshore wind turbines, with a designed installed capacity of up to 960 MW. Once completed, its annual power generation is expected to meet the electricity demand of nearly 1 million households. The project has invested more than GBP 1.5 billion in the UK domestic supply chain.

According to the construction schedule published by ScottishPower, the first submarine export cable is expected to begin installation in the summer of 2027. The two protection ducts completed this time will serve as dedicated channels for the submarine cables to cross the coastal area, and subsequent works will continue to advance the laying of high-voltage transmission cables and the construction of offshore wind facilities.