Trelleborg, a world leader in engineered solutions that protect critical applications in demanding environments, utilised ORE Catapult’s open-access shallow water testing facilities to prove NjordGuard™, its latest innovation in cable protection.

The Challenge

With developers under increasing pressure to reduce costs and de-risk offshore wind farm power cable installation, Trelleborg’s innovative NjordGuard™ solution required a series of wet tests to prove its capability of installing and removing offshore cables into both monopile and J-tube openings, without the need for intervention by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).

With the Catapult’s support, Trelleborg installed a simulated testing foundation into the dock, using a crane and winch assembly to replicate a cable-laying vessel.

The Solution

Using ORE Catapult’s controlled testing environment, Trelleborg was able to develop a test procedure to represent the pulling and locking of cables into an offshore foundation, under the same loads potentially experienced during offshore installation. With the Catapult’s support, Trelleborg installed a simulated testing foundation into the dock, using a crane and winch assembly to replicate a cable-laying vessel.

As a result of the test, Trelleborg was able to successfully perform eight full-scale wet tests of NjordGuard™, covering a range of installation scenarios, without the associated time, effort and costs of going offshore.