Wet-mate connector to cut cabling costs

The 18-month project, costing £1.1m and led by MacArtney, will involve the development of an 11kV wet-mate connector, which will be tested and demonstrated under workshop and real-sea conditions.

The connectors enable two power cables to be linked together. Currently, marine device developers either use dry-mate connectors, which have to be lifted out of the water and connected on a barge, or they use a 6.6kV wet-mate connector, which does not have a high enough voltage rating for the efficient transmission of maximum outputs from devices back to shore.

The use of these higher-voltage wet-mate connectors in future arrays is expected to lead to lower installation, operating and maintenance costs and the more rapid deployment of marine energy arrays. They will enable the use of remotely operated vehicles to perform electrical connections on the seabed instead of having to deploy barges to perform these connections above the surface.

The increase in voltage rating to 11kV could significantly reduce the capital costs associated with offshore energy installations, since higher-voltage connectors allow more power to be transmitted per cable.