CableCare 2: Self-repair Subsea Cable Demonstrator

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Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK

£2,490,045

Dec. 1, 2018

Nov. 30, 2021

"The competitiveness of offshore renewable energy within the UK power generation mix and the economic feasibility of the proliferation of regional, subsea transmission networks is compromised by the failure rates sustained by subsea power cables. Power cable failure in wet environments arises most frequently from damage to the protective sheath or jacket layers allowing rapid water ingress. This is preventable by inclusion of a water blocking material within the cable assembly, although existing solutions suffer from poor performance and added cost due to incompatibility with standard power cable production processes.

CableCare2 harnesses the laboratory validated water blocking capabilities of a water swell-responsive polymer blend, which consequently self-repairs to prevent water penetration and to block permeation of any water present, promising major improvements in mitigating cable failure. The material process characteristics align with current cable co-extrusion techniques, to be deployed as a subsheath repair layer and inner water blocking protection.

Test cables featuring the subsheath self-repair and inner blocking layers will be subjected to simulated environment performance tests by ORE Catapult, while complementary testing and composition optimisation by the project lead organisation, Gnosys, will deliver enhanced service durability leading to demonstrator cables for prototyping and commercial adoption."