Asso.subsea Installs Inter-Array Cables at Fécamp Offshore Wind Farm

Asso.subsea announced it has completed the Inter-array cable installation and protection operations for the 500 megawatt (MW) Fécamp Offshore Wind Project offshore France.

Asso.subsea was contracted by Prysmian Group to execute the seabed preparation, installation and protection works, with the involvement of four different vessels and various subsea tools from the company’s extensive portfolio.

Dimitris Panagos, Director of Offshore Wind Projects at Asso.subsea, said, “This important project marks a significant milestone for Asso.subsea, being the first inter-array project that the company has ever executed. As a one–stop-shop service provider for offshore activities, we have successfully installed and protected a total of 71 cables, being responsible for loading, transportation, installation, protection and backfilling of more than 118km of submarine cables, offering our expertise and extended ability to execute an extremely complex project, thanks to a full vertically-integrated solution”

Asso.subsea said the project was characterized by very hard soils and demanding burial requirements, so it designed and built a new trenching vehicle, the AssoTrencher IV Mk13, with an innovative approach to enhance backfilling capabilities. This tool performed more than 100 kilometers of backfilling reutilizing the previously excavated material.

Asso.subsea said it utilized the full force of its fleet, including the recently converted state-of-art cable laying vessel Ariadne and the trenching support vessels Athena and Argo, both equipped with the latest version of the AssoTrencher IV burial tools.