September 30, 2024
One of Galloper’s biggest maintenance activities this year has been the remote-operated vehicle (ROV) inspections of our subsea turbine foundations.
Murky North Sea waters and changing tides can make underwater inspections a difficult task, however, our site teams and contractors Atlantas, this summer successfully inspected the majority of the 56 turbine monopiles internally and externally as well as the foundations of the offshore substation, checking over the subsea infrastructure.
ROVs allow us to explore without actually being in the ocean. The team controls these underwater robots on the surface vessel, using a joystick in a similar way that you would play a video game. This means we can manoeuvre around the underwater infrastructure and send video back to the team above to navigate and assess.
The surveys allow our engineering teams to monitor the status of our foundations, ensuring they and the transmission cables stay in top condition so our turbines can continue to provide renewable energy to the UK.
On the ROV’s journey down to our cable protection systems, the inspections included an examination of the anode cages and scour protection, which shield the foundations from corrosion and the effects of flowing tides. The ROV also inspected inside the foundations to check the drain holes to ensure water flows through the monopile, avoiding stagnant water, and also checked the points at which the array cables exit the foundation.
The ROV campaign is now complete with the plan to carry out the next one in summer 2025.