Participating in the Experimental Offshore Floating Wind Farm Project

Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. is participating in an experimental offshore floating wind farm project sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (below, the experimental project) together with the University of Tokyo and 10 corporations including Marubeni Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., IHI Marine United Inc., Shimizu Corporation, and Hitachi, Ltd.
(A description of the experimental project is available in the annex.)(PDF 105KB/3pages)

Furukawa Electric is in charge of the power supply for the experimental project. We are building and testing a power supply system capable of securely delivering control signals and power generated at the offshore floating wind farm to the shore through submarine cables. Since the force of waves and tides cause floating wind farms to constantly pitch, the submarine cables are also required to track dynamic movement under severe conditions. We have developed an ultra-high pressure riser cable system^{(note 1)} that mobilizes the dynamic cable technology nurtured at Furukawa Electric to contribute to realizing the world’s largest offshore floating wind farm.

The main points of development are:

1. Development of highly durable riser cables
   We used behavior analysis technology based on movement data from the floating structure and conditions in the relevant area of the ocean to identify the ideal riser cable, and to develop a composite electro-optical ultra-high pressure riser cable with the same service life as the windmills and the floating structure.
2. Development of riser cable connectors
   Keeping economic efficiency in mind, we have developed subsidiary materials that support the connectors for the riser cable and the dynamic behavior of the cable.
3. Development of optical communication systems suitable for large-scale wind farms
   Striking a balance between economic efficiency and reliability, we are building and testing optimum optical communication systems for large-scale wind farms.

Schematic diagram of the power supply system at offshore floating wind farms

(Note 1)

Riser cable : Refers to a permanently suspended submarine cable for connecting to a floating structure. Unlike typical submarine cables, a riser cable is directly affected by rough ocean conditions and so the construction and the materials require extremely high technical capability.