First Subsea delivers cable connectors at Fukushima floating wind farm in Japan

First Subsea has finished delivery of cable connectors for the Phase 2 development of the Fukushima offshore wind demonstration project in Japan.

Two connectors have been installed for linking 22kV cables to the floating 66kV power substation at the farm.

The connections have been set up in advance as a 7MW wind turbine will be installed at the facility in Phase 3, which will be followed by installation of another floating wind turbine in Phase 4.

First Subsea managing director John Shaw said: "In Phase 2 we’ve once again demonstrated the ease of installation of the cable connectors offshore."

The pilot project has been sponsored by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

It is being constructed by a Marubeni-led consortium, and is expected to be the largest offshore wind farm situated away from the coast of the Fukushima Prefecture.

University of Tokyo, Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan Marine United, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Hitachi, Furukawa Electric, Shimizu and Mizuho Information & Research are the other partners in the consortium.

Phase 1 of the project involved installation of two First Subsea cable connectors, which joined a 22kV cable to a 2MW wind turbine and the substation. A third cable connector was also set up in the initial phase of the project for connecting a 66kV cable to the floating substation.