James Fisher and Sons, UK, has announced the successful deployment of the subsea export cables, as part of the initial construction phase (Phase 1A), in support of UK-based MeyGen Ltd’s ground-breaking 398-megawatt tidal array at Pentland Firth, Scotland.

Utilising specialist in-house expertise from a number of group companies, the integrated solution delivered significant cost benefits and operational efficiencies to MeyGen, through the combination of innovative products and services exclusive to James Fisher, according to a spokesman for the company.

Tim Cornelius, chief executive officer of the Atlantis Resources, UK, the majority owner of MeyGen, said: “This is an excellent result for the project. By its very nature, the offshore site is a challenging tidal environment and to complete the installation campaign safely and in line with the programme is a commendable achievement by our onshore and offshore teams, aided by great performance from the vessel. After all the planning it is very rewarding to see the offshore infrastructure taking shape for this trail-blazing project.”

The James Fisher spokesman said principal contractor James Fisher Marine Services (JFMS), UK, acted as the project interface for the installation of four subsea cables at the MeyGen tidal energy project, with Mojo Maritime, the UK-based marine management specialist, acting as the project lead which coordinated all offshore activities during operations.

“Mojo was able to apply its innovative marine project planning system Mermaid (which precisely simulates marine operations against historical tidal data) to accurately optimise critical project operations and significantly reduce costs,” the spokesman said. “A short neap window was identified and in order to achieve it, the vessel would have to lay one cable every 12 hours. While ambitious, this schedule was achieved and the offshore operation took just two and a half days.”

Mobilisation was very compressed and required extensive input from all involved to mobilise an entire cable spread in four days, according to the spokesman. The Siem Daya 1 DP vessel was carefully selected on its capabilities, as Mojo understood that securely positioning the vessel within the extreme tidal conditions would be a critical factor in achieving success, he said.

Commenting on the project’s overall success, Richard Parkinson, managing director at Mojo, said: “Attention to detail and the safety of all personnel was paramount throughout every aspect of this project. Installing 11 kilometres of cable in tidal speeds of up to six knots posed significant challenges in planning and delivery and we knew we had a demanding schedule.

“It is a credit to the relentless effort of the team that we were able to achieve a safe and highly optimised cable pull and lay programme.”

Demonstrating the streamlined service delivery from James Fisher, further group company involvement included: James Fisher Subsea, UK, heading up the diving services and mobilisation of a full dive spread; James Fisher Offshore, UK, supplying marine equipment; and Fendercare Marine, UK, providing mooring systems.