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KEADBY ONSHORE WIND FARM UPVC DUCT INSTALLATION

KEADBY ONSHORE WIND FARM, SCUNTHORPE, ENGLAND

When Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) built England’s largest onshore wind farm, they chose Emtelle to deliver bespoke uPVC ducts to house the cables that run from the 34 Vestas V.90 2 megawatt wind turbines to the sub-station. Cables from the 34 Vestas wind turbines were placed inside Emtelle uPVC Class 1 ducts manufactured to ENATS 12-24 (2008) standard, ensuring full protection from damage and facilitating speedy replacement of cables if needed. Turbine fibre optic telemetry was installed using 110mm Green uPVC 450N duct to BS/EN61386 with 35/30mm HDPE SDR 11 sub-ducts subsequently installed. The wind farm was constructed on land with a high water table, which required an effective method of cable duct / wall sealing – for which our Hauff Technik seal system was chosen. This ensures an efficient water stop cable / duct seal for the sub-station. “The Emtelle Hauff cable duct sealing system stopped a major water ingress problem from the specified seal in the sub-station. The added benefit is that these Hauff seals can be retro-fitted, which has solved a very knotty problem for us.” Andrew Grant, Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd.

Duct Installation from turbines to sub-station

Bespoke 250mm uPVC Class 1 bends of 90 degrees on a 3,900mm radius were set into the foundations on the turbine base can. The radius was chosen so that the 33kV 630sq/mm and 300sq/mm aluminium cored cables were not over-bent beyond their safe-bending radius. This radius also ensured that the cables could be placed with the minimum friction. The ducts and base can reinforcing bars were set in concrete ready for the Vesta V.90 wind turbine to be set and bolted onto the pad. The ducts were roped, brush and mandrel tested and plugged / capped to avoid the ingress of fines and water. Cables were installed inside our uPVC Class 1 ducts, accompanied with SSE specification fibre-cable ducts from the turbine base to the sub-station. This ensures that cables can not be damaged by following trades, and in the event of cable overload or failure, the cables could be quickly withdrawn and replaced. The ducting of cables significantly reduces this turbine down time in the event of cable failure. 200mm Class 1 cable ducts were seal wrapped and cast into the substation outer wall to avoid water ingress from around the outside of the ducts as they entered the sub-station. The outside wall was then cast around the duct sockets, with care being taken to avoid the ingress of concrete fines within the sockets. Further sealing was implemented between the 33kV cable trefoils and the inside wall / bore of the ducts. Because of the high water table of the project area, the original sealing methods were leaking heavily. After successful testing, we were contracted to install our new Emtelle Hauff Technik Sealing System on these problematic areas. The Hauff solution resolved the leakage problems. The Hauff Technik P-Cable Professional 2 type, split version is ideal for retro-fitting into ducts with pre-installed cables. We can manufacture these seals to bespoke specifications to fit the customer’s duct and cable size requirements. The V2A AISI 304L stainless steel backing plates can be tightened to withstand 5 bar head pressure. “Having used Emtelle HV Cable ducts on this and previous contracts, we knew that here is a quality system that is price competitive, backed up by a reliable delivery service and full technical product support”. Daniel Barnes, Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd.

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