A British company involved in the manufacture of undersea cables is working to resolve issues that risk failures at up to ten offshore wind farm projects.
Tekmar is working with Orsted, the world’s biggest offshore wind farm specialist, which last week discovered that cables connecting its turbines were being worn away by rubbing against rocks installed to protect the turbine foundations from seabed erosion.
This had led to some cable failures, the Danish developer said, adding that the problem could affect up to ten of its wind farms in Britain and Europe.
Yesterday the Darlington-based Tekmar, which makes protective coating for undersea cables to offshore wind farms, said that it was working with Orsted to find a solution.
Alasdair MacDonald, 56, chief executive of Tekmar, said: “The installation and maintenance of cables and cable protection systems in challenging subsea environments is complex and failure can be the result of many factors.”
He said that as technology evolved, similar troubles were not expected at future offshore installations. He did not expect solving the issues relating to Orsted to have “a material financial impact for Tekmar Group”.
Marianne Wiinholt, 55, chief financial officer of Orsted, said that the issue had been discovered “a very short time ago” after a cable had failed at the Race Bank wind farm off Norfolk, which was opened in 2018.
Shares in Orsted fell by more than 6 per cent last week — and by a further 5 per cent yesterday to DKr872 — after it said that tackling the problem would cost it £350 million by 2023. Shares in Tekmar fell by 8½p, or 14.4 per cent, to 50½p last night.