Renewable energy generation with TKF's Subsea cable systems

Both sun and wind have become reliable elements in the generation of clean, green energy. By 2020, 12% of worldwide electricity demand will be produced by wind energy. As a consequence, additional investments have been made in windfarms, mainly at sea, to secure this form of renewable energy generation.

TKH subsidiary TKF has responded to this development with its subsea cable systems that link together the wind turbines that make up the wind farms. Subsea cables consist of three copper or aluminium conductors for transporting the generated energy, and an optical fibre cable that transmits the measurement data from the connected installations. The subsea cable systems from TKF are supplied as a single unit, together with all the necessary accessories and connectors, for both ends. The biggest advantage of this approach is that the risk of cable faults and water penetration, for whatever reason, is excluded. The weight of a subsea cable can rise to as much as fifteen hundred tonnes. In parallel to this development, we have seen a huge rise in the power generation capacity of wind turbines. They can supply more energy, but at the same time the mechanical forces acting on the subsea cables are rising. TKF supplies cable systems with a capacity up to 66 kV (kilovolt). The unique and innovative element of TKF cables is that the cable construction is made very robust, so that the risk of damage is strongly reduced during the installation.

The way in which the cables are tested is also unique on the market. The entire cables can be tested electrical, as a single unit. The complete upgrading of the TKF factory in Lochem (the Netherlands) includes the construction of a Faraday cage, in which the cables can, for example, be tested for discharge, thereby providing a complete cable blueprint. We want to be able to offer our customers a quality label. Our entire organization has been geared to this, enabling us to correctly answer any questions put to us by our customers.