Model of a moored power cable at OBSEA platform

Abstract

New green energy sources deployed at sea in mobile platforms use power cables in order to transport generated energy at sea surface to the bottom. Theses power cables are exposed to the dynamic behaviour of the platform movements due to waves, currents and wind. OBSEA is a seafloor cabled observatory at 20 m depth in front of Vilanova, in Catalan coast. OBSEA captures data in real time like current, waves and wind among others. In this paper, a model of a moored power cable installed at OBSEA is studied. The study is focused on the trajectory, tensions and deformation or curvature of cables about 0.1 m diameter and under real conditions collected from OBSEA sensors. Simulations are done with OrcaFlex 9.3 software (license N1594). This software allows to model underwater structures and cables.