SUBSEA HIGH-VOLTAGE POWER DISTRIBUTION

Copyright Material IEEE

Paper No. PCIC-2011-12

Terence Hazel Henri Baerd Jarle J. Bremnes Josselin Legeay

Senior Member, IEEE Converteam Member IEEE Deutsch Offshore
Schneider Electric Massy France Nexans Norway AS Houston TX, USA
Grenoble France Oslo Norway

switchgear. Wet mate connectors described later have a key

Abstract Subsea process units are going all electric and role in determining the MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) since
require substantial amounts of electrical power. Such they allow each of the modules to be retrieved independently.
installations do not require offshore platforms and thus all Other systems associated with the electrical distribution such as
power will come from shore via long power umbilicals. Since it protection, monitoring and remote control will also need to meet
is not economically viable to supply power to individual loads additional constraints due to the subsea environment. It is not
from shore, subsea distribution systems are required. The total enough just to do subsea what has been done onshore in the
load will be up to the 100 MW range thus requiring high-voltage past.
power distribution. The subsea environment of the substation
has a very strong influence on its design, and very high II. SINGLE-LINE DIAGRAM
availability is one of the main design criteria.
Fig. 1 shows the part of the subsea power distribution system
Index Terms HV Switchgear, Subsea Power Distribution, close to the loads being supplied. Power is supplied from an
HV Penetrators, Umbilicals onshore substation via a HV power umbilical to a subsea
transformer which supplies the subsea HV power distribution
I. INTRODUCTION system. The incoming supply is directly connected to the
busbar. The power distribution system shown in Fig. 1
In recent years, the offshore industry has seen a clear trend corresponds to a generic subsea compression train consisting
for production facilities to be installed on the seabed. Such a of a main motocompressor for gas compression and an
system is particularly suited for challenging environments such auxiliary liquid pump for handling the condensate after
as deepsea and artic, and provides an efficient and economical separation of gas and liquids in the scrubber. The typical rating
subsea-to-beach solution which eliminates the need for a for the motocompressor is 10MW to 15MW and the pump is
floating production unit. There are several advantages to 400kW. The motocompressor and the pump are powered via
installing process equipment close to the source of the product. subsea variable frequency drives (VFD). The complete subsea
To date each item of process equipment was powered from the station may have several trains.
surface. This is reliable but very costly. In order to reduce the
cost of the power supply but not reduce its reliability, the
electrical distribution system can also be placed on the seabed.
Thus the electrical power distribution will be located near the
load center which is common practice for onshore designs.
The main design criterion is reliability and must take into
account the complete power distribution system. Since the
offshore portion of the distribution system is installed on the
seabed at depths down to 3000m, access will require bringing
equipment to the surface which is very time consuming and can
result in lost production. Due to the location of the equipment,
maintenance will not be possible and thus the system must be
designed to operate without for a long period of time. The
design life of the equipment without maintenance must
therefore be at least 20 years, this being the period during
which the failure rate remains constant. In addition to the design
life, often values of MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) are
provided, these giving an estimate of the probability of a failure
within a given time. Due to the very little data available on
subsea connectors and penetrators the concept of MTBF is
likely to be used in designing subsea power distribution Fig. 1 Subsea Power Distribution System Single-line diagram
systems in order to compare possible solutions rather than to
provide a specific number for the MTBF. Such performance The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) defines
requirements can only be achieved when the electrical HV as voltage exceeding 1000V AC. For the purpose of this
distribution is looked at as a complete system, from the utility tie paper readers should keep in mind that the voltage used for the
to the loads themselves via the umbilical, and the HV and LV

978-1-61284-298-1/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

HV power umbilical is typically over 100kV whereas the subsea
distribution voltage is up to 36kV. Both are labeled HV as per
IEC terminology.
The choice of the subsea power distribution system operating
voltage is determined by several criteria, the main ones being
the amount of power to be supplied and keeping the rated
currents within reasonable limits (2500A for circuit-breakers and
1600A for HV penetrators and wetmate connectors). If the
power distribution system is compact, earth-fault current is
generally low and this allows circuits to remain energized for
permanent earth fault conditions. This operation however
permanently stresses the healthy phases in terms of voltage
and will result in the need to select a lower operating voltage
than systems not designed to withstand permanent earth fault
conditions. Typically the equipment design voltage Um will be
36kV as per IEC 62271-200 and the operating voltage will be
either 20kV for compact systems (permanent earth fault
accepted) or 30kV for systems having long HV cable lengths
(operation with permanent earth fault not permitted).
Fig. 1 shows a step-down transformer whose low-voltage
winding supplies a subsea UPS. The precharge system allows
charging the VFD capacitors without causing an unacceptably
high inrush current. After the capacitors have been charged, the
main HV circuit-breaker to the VFD is closed. Should more than
1 train be provided, the precharge system and the UPS could
be made redundant for increased availability.
The LV auxiliary power distribution is normally designed to
operate with an isolated neutral. This allows continued
operation should an earth fault occur anywhere in the auxiliary
power system. The LV auxiliary distribution system is provided
with insulation monitoring and also sensors which can
determine the location of earth faults. Since all LV circuits
downstream of the UPS are redundant, a circuit having an earth
fault can be switched off and the load powered by means of
another circuit.
III. POWER UMBILICALS
Power supply via long cables brings many challenging design
issues. HV DC can be a good solution where both the line and
load connection points are installed on the surface [1], while the
equipments weight and/or volume may prove problematic for
use at existing offshore structures. When the load side is
subsea, HV AC technology avoids the issue of designing
subsea conversion with power electronics since a pressure
compensated transformer with active parts of traditional design
can be used. Main downsides of long AC cable transmission
systems are related to the reactive power associated with the
cable itself a problem increasing with the square of the
operating voltage. Reactive power compensation, preferably at
both ends, can mitigate this aspect.
The AC power umbilical as shown in Fig. 2 will consist of a
classic submarine three-core cable design, most often with
integrated fiber-optic cables. The 3 each HV single-core cables
with lead sheaths take up most of the volume of the umbilical
as shown in Fig. 2. The much smaller fiber-optic cables are
shown touching each pair of HV cables. The remainder of the
space in the umbilical is filler material. The difference between
a traditional power cable and a power umbilical is that the cable
has both end terminations at 1 atm ambient, while the umbilical
has one end permanently exposed to the hydrostatic pressure
at the seabed. These power umbilicals are preferably supplied
as a single installation length to avoid offshore jointing. Offshore
jointing is both time consuming and far from trivial, even in
relatively shallow waters. Mechanical fatigue, e.g. of lead
sheaths, will definitely be an issue during such time consuming
operations more so in deep waters, as the increased weight
of the cable means that a higher radial squeeze force must be
applied at the topside end. Furthermore, repair of any subsea
cable/umbilical means that an extra length more than two times
the water depth must be inserted. Large water depths will thus
result in a significant length increase after repair if repair is
feasible at all. These facts also suggest that any planned joint,
e.g. due to weight limitations on the installation vessel, should
be located at the shallowest end.
The umbilical must be designed with adequate strength and
torque balance for installations in deep water. The seabed is
typically not a flat sandy location ideal for the installation of
umbilicals: on-bottom stability and free span analyses are often
required, also taking into account fatigue induced by vortex
induced vibrations (VIV). Existing pipelines and other man-
made devices may have to be avoided and subsea ridges must
be crossed. The umbilical must be designed to accept all
installation, and possibly retrieval situations encountered along
its full length.
Fig. 2 HV AC Power Umbilical
Umbilical repair after installation at 3000 m water depth will
be a formidable and possibly non-feasible operation due to
technical and/or economical reasons. Failure statistics for
submarine cables clearly show that third-party damage is the
dominant risk the risk of electric insulation breakdown is
extremely small for an undisturbed cable/umbilical. Cost of
protection by means of trenching, burial or similar may be
preferable to total cost of repair in shallow to moderate water
depths. For the largest water depths, installing a new umbilical
may be the only realistic and quite possibly the cheapest
option.
The logistics involved with the manufacturing, transportation,
handling and installation of the umbilicals are generally very
demanding. Important installation limitations are related to the
maximum length, outer diameter, total weight and/or volume
that can be handled by available umbilical laying or subsea
installation vessels. Umbilical design will determine its
installation constraints and thus the feasibility of a particular
design for a specific application.
Currently, wet-mateable connectors are not available on the
market at voltages above 36 kV. Consequently the HV cable
whose rated voltage will often be in the 123 kV insulation class
must be terminated to the subsea transformer at the surface
prior to installation of both together. Care must be taken to
avoid overtensioning or overbending of the umbilical during
such operations, e.g. it would not be acceptable to have the
umbilical (armor) taking up the weight of a transformer.
Termination will typically take place in a pressure compensated
oil-filled chamber and will require close coordination between
the suppliers of the umbilical and the transformer.
After installation of the umbilical it is necessary to perform
testing prior to energization. Measuring insulation resistance will
say little or nothing about the condition of the HV insulation,
while availability of equipment for voltage testing extremely long
high-voltage AC cables at FAT-level in the field is another non-
trivial issue. Consequently 24-hour energization at normal
operating voltage may be the only feasible test as defined in
IEC 60840.
IV. SUBSEA POWER DISTRIBUTION EQUIPMENT
The subsea power distribution system seen in Fig. 1 could
be labeled as a Circuit-breaker Module. All HV switching is
performed in this module as well as the main LV switching.
Due to the subsea environment at depths down to 3000m, it is
necessary to design all equipment to withstand very high
pressures. The solution chosen is to install standard electrical
equipment within enclosures that can withstand these high
pressures.
A. HV Switchgear
The HV switchgear within the enclosure is standard air-
insulated equipment rated at 36kV and used at atmospheric
pressure. Power supply reliability is the main design criterion
for subsea applications, and one way to enhance reliability is
to use standard equipment that has been in service for many
years. Not only has this equipment proven itself over time, but
the reliability data associated with it is well known.
Fig. 3 Electrical Equipment Layout Within Enclosure
1. HV penetrator
2. HV circuit-breakers
3. Step-down transformer to UPS
4. Precharge system
5. LV Power, Protection and Control Cubicle
The physical arrangement of the switchgear and other
electrical equipment within the subsea enclosure is shown in
Fig. 3. The main 36kV busbar is air-insulated bare copper. All
other equipment shown in Fig. 3 is necessary for supplying
the loads of the subsea compression train. Should another
train be installed, this equipment will be doubled. As will be
described later, the interface between electrical equipment
outside and inside the enclosures is done by means of
penetrators. These critical components ensure the electrical
insulation as well as withstand the very high pressure
difference between the components in sea water (cables,
pressure-compensated equipment) and the components in the
enclosure that are at atmospheric pressure.
As will be described later, the electrical equipment for each
function such as 36kV circuit-breaker, step-down transformer,
voltage transformer, and LV cubicle are installed on separate
racks. This allows a step-by-step installation and connection of
the electrical equipment within the enclosure. In this particular
design access to all equipment during assembly is provided,
but this is not the case for enclosures designed for depths of
3000m keeping the exterior diameter of the enclosure to a
minimum is one of the main design criteria. The interconnection
of the equipment installed on different racks is by means of
flexible connections in order to avoid the transmission of
vibrations and to allow for small adjustments. The LV Power,
Protection and Control Cubicle is located at one end of the
enclosure in order to provide the best environment from an
electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) standpoint. For the design
shown in the example, access is provided at both ends of the
enclosure. Since most internal connections are at the LV
Power, Protection and Control Cubicle, it is very convenient to
locate it at one end of the enclosure. The transformer is the
heaviest piece of equipment within the enclosure and the
enclosure support points must be designed accordingly.
Fig. 4 Electrical Equipment During FAT
Part of the electrical equipment can be seen in Fig. 4. All
equipment racks were connected together for factory
acceptance testing. The transformer is installed on its own rack
as is each 36kV circuit-breaker. The circular structures form the seen. The flanges at both ends of the enclosure can be seen as
36kV air-insulated busbar support system and their diameter is well. The design makes use of stiffener rings in order to reduce
just slightly less than the interior diameter of the enclosure. the wall thickness and thus the weight of the enclosure.

B. Subsea Enclosure

The purpose of the subsea enclosure is to provide standard

installation conditions for the switchgear. The enclosure must
therefore withstand the very high external pressures
encountered at up to 3000m depth and also the corrosion
present due to permanent contact with salt water.
The subsea switchgear module enclosure is mechanically
designed according to the European standard EN13445 (using
Design by Formula method) and DNV-RP-F301 having external
pressure as the main load during the operation condition on the
seabed. The interfaces between the electrical switchgear racks
and module structures are very important. Fabrication
tolerances (especially ovalization) and material/welding were
closely monitored. Taking into account the expected
interventions on the subsea switchgear module unit, the
number of full external pressure cycles is very low and thus no
fatigue considerations need to be taken into account. Cathodic
protection with anodes and coating paint are provided to
prevent corrosion of the enclosure. Special attention is given to
sealing against water ingress that is accomplished by two metal
separate barriers to seawater. Each sealing barrier is tested
during the assembly process. The selected seal technology
provides an exceptional tightness proved by a helium leak test.
The key design requirements for subsea enclosures are
summarized below:
Design life 20, up to 30 years
Design pressure about 300 barg (for 3000m depth, 100
barg for 1000m depth) Fig. 5 Subsea Enclosure
Number of nozzles/penetrations through the enclosure was
kept to a minimum in order to limit the areas for potential As mentioned, water tightness is a key aspect and it is
leaks. accomplished by two separate barriers to seawater. Each
Hemi-spherical shaped dished heads were selected in order sealing barrier is tested during assembly. Inconell overlay
to avoid buckling in any transition areas due the external welding was performed on the body flange faces in order to
pressure. Elliptical and torispherical heads are not suitable prevent corrosion at the contact area between the seal and
for deep water enclosures. body flange.
The design for the body flanges needs special Detailed calculation of the body flange is made according to
considerations due to the external pressure and the fact that EN 13445-3 section 11. The maximum utilization factor for the
they will be periodically opened for inspection and resealed. designed body flange occurs when the flange is bolted-up
During operation, inspection will be impossible. during assembly on the seabed the external pressure is
Minimizing of welding to the enclosure body shell. sufficient to mitigate the stress on the flange bolts. A detailed
Reduction of the number of enclosure flanges, but still FEM analysis was performed to check maximum stress and
allowing correct accessibility during assembly and deformation along the cross section of the body flange. Another
inspections. analysis was performed to determine the contact area status
The subsea switchgear module is designed as a single between the flange faces in both the bolting-up condition at
mechanical item, provided with all supporting pieces that will atmospheric pressure and during operation on the seabed.
allow integration into the subsea structure through one fixed The flange design and selection of the bolts and tightening
and one sliding saddle. The design takes into account all method take into consideration the exceptional case of
handling during manufacturing, testing, installation and maximum loading which is retrieval with tilting considering the
maintenance. The position of the saddles is determined internal volume filled with water as well as the weight of all of
based on the subsea installation support modules supplied the electrical equipment inside the enclosure.
by the client.
Maximum weight of content under operating conditions C. Penetrators
based on internal equipment and a water-filled enclosure.
Specific HV connectors, penetrators and jumpers were
Fig. 5 shows the enclosure that contains the subsea electrical developed for the 36kV/900A/50Hz power distribution system.
distribution equipment. The external diameter is 2.75m and the These connectors are used from the low-voltage side of the
different penetrators for HV, LV and fiber-optic cables can be main transformer to the circuit-breaker module and from the
feeder circuit-breakers to the high-voltage side of the variable- assembly onto the modules to ensure that each component of
frequency drive (VFD). A penetrator a device that penetrates the overall assembly would be fit for purpose. The extensive
a wall with terminations on both sides is typically required for qualification program includes HV dielectric tests, partial
connecting devices within one enclosure to devices within other discharge measurements, vibrations up to 5g and shock up to
enclosures via connectors and jumpers. The specifications of 30g, and hydrostatic body tests to validate each function of the
the penetrators given below were for a subsea power penetrator and ensure that every possible combination of
distribution system at 2000m depth. The first stage in the operating scenarios will be covered.
development of the penetrators required for the subsea The overall layout of the subsea station was also a key
distribution system was to conduct predesign work for a single factor. The position and orientation of penetrator interfaces are
phase wet mateable connector having the following required to be within a certain range to allow connection of HV
characteristics: jumpers which route the electrical circuit towards the wet mate
Voltage: 18/30(36)kV connectors attached to the external mating mechanism. In
Current: 900A order to ease the design of the subsea layout, some specific
Frequency: 50Hz designs for the connection system have been addressed, such
Design life 25 years as 90 elbow HV Jumpers.
Water depth: 2000m
Design pressure: 200 bar
Test pressure: 300 bar
Mating cycle number: 100
Operating temperature: -5C to 40C
Storage temperature: -25C to 50C

After an initial evaluation of necessary technology

qualifications and critical components analysis, the detailed
design, procurement and qualification phase (Technology
Qualification Program) was conducted. The 18/30(36)kV
penetrator towards other subsea equipment required for the
subsea station is used on the subsea transformer and the
circuit breaker module and is shown in Fig. 6. For the
switchgear module, the VFDs and the compressor, another wet
mate connection system was developed, with the following
characteristics:

Voltage: 6/10(12)kV
Current: 1600A
Frequency: 200Hz
Design life 25 years
Water depth: 2000m
Design pressure: 200 bar
Test pressure: 300 bar
Mating cycle number: 100
Operating temperature: -5C to 40C
Storage temperature: -25C to 50C
Operating temperature (compressor): 50C permanent
Fig. 6 36kV 900A 50Hz penetrator
The use of wet mate connectors allows a defective module to
be retrieved on its own while the other modules remain in D. Monitoring and Control
operation. The connectors reduce downtime for the complete
subsea station and allow the use of intervention vessels with The correct remote monitoring and control of electrical
lower rated lifting equipment since only the faulty module is distribution equipment is a key requirement for the operation of
required to be retrieved for repair. For each connection system, the subsea power distribution system. The basis for correct
interface engineering was necessary to cover the mechanical control is the availability of reliable data giving the exact
aspects, such a sealing mechanisms, mechanical interfaces condition of all the electrical equipment. Remote monitoring and
(pressure induced forces, fixation methods), assembly process, control implies a communication system that is very reliable and
as well as the electrical aspects, and especially the connection has no common mode failures. The architecture of the
toward electrical equipment inside the different modules monitoring and control system is shown in Fig. 7 and illustrates
(mechanical connection, temperature rise, electrical field, test the use of redundancy as a means to reduce the number of
philosophies and methods). The wet mate connection system common-mode failures. An important feature of the monitoring
including jumpers and penetrators underwent a complete system is self-monitoring for remote diagnosis when necessary.
qualification program as components and as a complete All failures within the monitoring and control system and
system. The interfaces were also qualified independently before communication system are signaled to the operator.
 The communication system is Ethernet based and uses
redundant Ethernet switches and fibers to reduce the number of
common mode failures. The key components are the redundant
controllers which are industrial computers having no moving
parts (no hard disk drives). Associated with the controllers are
redundant input racks and communication connections to
intelligent electronic devices (IEDs). These provide the
information for the monitoring function. The control of the
switchgear is by means of redundant hard-wired connections
from the controller outputs to the close and trip coils of the
circuit-breakers. This allows the operator to continue production
even should both of the redundant protection relays of a
particular feeder not be in service. The purpose of the
communication connections to the IEDs is to retrieve analog
values of current, voltage, active and reactive power for each
circuit for use by the substation operator. These connections
also allow the modification of certain parameters such as
protection settings during operation. Such work is carried out at
a dedicated Engineering Work Station (EWS). For the LV
feeders the circuit-breakers provide short-circuit current
protection only. The controllers are connected to instrument
transformers and provide the overload protection. The reason
for this is that protection settings on the LV circuit-breakers
could not be changed from a remote location via a
communication link.
Fig. 7 Monitoring and Control System Architecture
The monitoring and control equipment is installed in
dedicated LV enclosures. Other LV enclosures are provided for
the protection relays, and the LV power distribution equipment.
E. Condition Monitoring
In addition to the monitoring and control system described
above for the operation of the subsea power distribution
system, a separate condition monitoring system is provided.
One of the main differences between a subsea and onshore
power distribution system is the difficulty to access subsea
equipment. It is necessary to bring faulty equipment to the
surface for repair and this means having a suitable ship and
equipment to disconnect the module and bring it to the surface
for repair. Weather conditions will also affect such operations. It
is therefore necessary to predict failures in order to have time to
schedule maintenance work rather than waiting for a failure to
happen and then be forced to react quickly. Data from condition
monitoring offers the diagnosis capability for preparing
intervention, and when possible, to repair the system by
reconfiguring it via software that are remotely uploaded.
In order to be able to predict a failure, it is necessary to have
extensive data and be able to analyze it. The amount of data
that is available in a subsea compression station is enormous.
In addition to all the analog and digital information directly
linked to the electrical power distribution system, there is also
the information related to the process equipment. For example,
the currents and voltages of the magnetic bearings of the
motors and driven equipment are read several times per
second and sent onshore for analysis and storage. The
terabytes of data are time stamped and stored in such a
manner as to be able to retrieve them at a later date for
analysis. All available data is captured and stored, even if to
date analysis of all data is not implemented. The idea is to have
data available for any analysis that is deemed necessary in the
future to provide the information necessary to predict possible
failures. All condition monitoring data is accessible via the
EWS.
F. Assembly of HV Switchgear in Enclosure
As described above, the complete electrical distribution
system is installed within a cylindrical enclosure. It is necessary
to design both the electrical equipment and the enclosure to
allow easy installation of the equipment without damage. All
electrical equipment is installed on racks, one rack per function.
Each rack is connected via cables or via flexible connections
thus preventing any mechanical stress and avoiding the
transmission of mechanical shocks and vibrations. The
interface between the switchgear racks and the enclosure is
very limited in order to avoid stresses due to the slight changes
in dimension of the enclosure while being installed on the
seabed.
Fig. 8 Installation of Switchgear Racks
Each switchgear rack is provided with retractable wheels and
these are rolled on rails provided at the bottom of the enclosure.
Thus each rack can be installed without any stress on any of
the components. After being rolled into place within the
enclosure, the wheels are retracted and the rack securely fixed
to the base of the enclosure. Each rack is fixed to separate rails
which are attached to the body of the enclosure by means of
shock absorbers. These prevent transmission of mechanical
shocks and vibrations. After installation of each rack, all cable
connections to it are made prior to the installation of another
rack.
All switchgear racks are completely prewired in order to
facilitate installation and avoid cabling errors. Extensive use of
bayonet-type connectors for low-voltage control and instrument
cables reduces the possibility of wiring mistakes during final
assembly, and loosening during transportation. The correct
separation of HV and LV power cables and control cables is
essential to avoid electromagnetic disturbances that could
cause incorrect operation of equipment or even result in
permanent damage. HV power cables are installed at the
bottom of the enclosure in the middle whereas LV power cables
are installed along the sides near the bottom of the enclosure.
Control cables along the side of the equipment racks. These
installation details can be seen in Fig. 8.
For ease of assembly, the racks located in the center of the
enclosure are installed first, followed by those towards the 2
flanges on the ends. The final piece of equipment installed is
the LV cubicle. Fig. 9 shows the LV equipment rack installed
and also shows some of the details of the enclosure flange.
Fig. 9 LV Cubicles and Enclosure Flange
V. ENGINEERING
The subsea environment requires the execution of many
calculations in addition to those done for an onshore power
distribution system. Some of these are related to the subsea
environment and operation constraints, and some due to the
use of a long power umbilical.
A. Availability
The availability of the power distribution system as a whole is
probably the most dominate design criteria. This applies also to
all subsystems, especially monitoring and control. The
protection system is designed to prevent damage to sensitive
components such as connectors and penetrators. The
protection of operators is not a requirement for subsea
installations except during manufacturing and production test
phases.
Although availability is the most important design criteria,
several other very important constraints must also be
respected. One of the highest level priority constraints was
avoiding the increase in the size of the switchgear equipment
that could lead to an increase in the diameter of the enclosure
or its overall height. An increase in the enclosure diameter will
result in a large increase in the total weight which could be
detrimental to the subsea template structure. High availability
also means elimination of risks of malfunctions. Controls must
be executed correctly without any nuisance tripping or
undesired operation of any switching devices. This requires the
integration of concepts of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)
right from the start and has important consequences on the
layout of equipment and cabling. There were also some lower
priority criteria such as ease of access for maintenance.
Due to the constraints mentioned above concerning
enclosure diameter, it was necessary to include the physical
aspects of the design in the reliability study, not just the
electrical aspects. The physical location of the penetrators for
HV jumper connections were modeled in order to be sure that
any possible insulation failure on one phase would not affect
another one due to their location. The results of EMC
considerations were also incorporated in the physical layout to
determine if there could be any detrimental consequences to
the overall reliability of the system.
Fig. 10 Mechanical Calculations of Switchgear Module

B. Mechanical Studies
The complete subsea switchgear module is assembled
onshore and then lowered to its final resting place several
hundred meters below sea level. During the handling the
enclosure and the electrical equipment contained within will be
subject to vibrations, pitch and roll. The design requirement for
roll was 30, and 15 for pitch. Fig. 10 shows some results of
the calculations for the switchgear structure under maximum
constraints.
C. Thermal Studies
The enclosure houses a transformer which is the main
source of heat. The iron losses are independent of the load
whereas copper losses increase with the load. Some heat is
generated in the switching devices and some low-voltage
devices but this is minimal. The purpose of the thermal studies
was to check that the heat generated by the transformer and
other devices would be correctly dissipated through the
enclosure wall to the surrounding water without any hot spots
within the subsea enclosure. As shown in Fig. 11, the heat is
dissipated first by convection within the enclosure, and then by
conduction through the enclosure walls. There are different
operating modes and each has an important influence on the
losses in the transformer. The most severe combination of iron
losses and copper losses were used in the calculations in order
to check that there were no operating conditions which could
lead to unsatisfactory heat dissipation.
Fig. 11 Thermal Dissipation Calculations
The maximum final temperature within all sections of all the
LV enclosures was also calculated in order to ensure no
components would be subjected to unacceptable ambient
conditions.
D. Special Requirements for Subsea Installations
The subsea environment means that human access is
impossible. ROVs are the only means that are available for
intervention, and these are limited. Prior to designing a subsea
power distribution system, it is necessary to review all of the
basic criteria that must be respected.
Leave nothing to chance was adopted from the start. It is
necessary to qualify each component that will be used in the
installation. This includes all the types of hardware used. An
equipment sizing report is used to list all of the mechanical, and
electrical and reliability data for all components. The reasons for
the selection of particular components is also included in the
report, one example being the reasons why LV fuses were
selected rather miniature circuit-breakers (fixed-mounted fuses
are considered having a much lower nuisance-tripping failure
mode).
E. System Studies
In addition to the design of each piece of equipment and
specific components such as the HV penetrators, it is essential
to look at the power distribution system as a whole and conduct
a number of system studies. The power umbilical generates
much reactive power and the effects of this on the power
system must be analyzed. Resonance can occur in the power
system and could cause damage to equipment if excited by
harmonic currents generated by the loads, or from the
energization of the subsea transformer. Also when the umbilical
is energized a large amount of reactive power is injected into
the utility connection. Detailed studies must be carried out with
the utility to determine what reactive power limitations are to be
respected, and how this can be achieved, for example by using
shunt reactors and/or Static Var Compensation (SVC).
The design of the protection system also has new
dimensions. Should a fault occur, it is necessary to know where
it is in order to know what equipment needs to be brought to the
surface for repair. The ROV panels are the interface points
between subsea modules, and fault location should be provided
to determine on which side of the ROV panel the fault is
located. In some cases the ROV can disconnect cables to help
determine fault location, but this is not always possible, nor is it
without risk itself.
The monitoring and control system must be designed to allow
remote changing of equipment software, firmware and
parameters. We often hear stories about modifying the control
system of space craft and the recent Hayabusa mission which
brought back to earth samples from an asteroid is a good
example of what can go wrong and what it is possible to do
remotely. Although subsea power distribution systems are on
earth, in many aspects they are as remote as space craft.
VI. TESTING
The subsea environment greatly increases the importance of
testing prior to installation. The correct operation of all
components and all equipment and systems must be
thoroughly verified prior to placing the equipment on the seabed
and connecting it together.
A. FAT of Equipment
Extensive testing during Factory Acceptance is necessary
since the equipment will be installed within an enclosure
afterwards and this will result in limited access for repair or
modifications. Everything must work perfectly prior to
installation.
B. System Testing
After all equipment has been installed within the enclosure,
the tests conducted during the FAT must be repeated together
with all other tests that were not possible prior to the final
assembly. It is not enough to test systems to be sure that they
operate correctly when they should. They must also be
extensively tested to check that they react correctly to
disturbances. Reaction to different failure modes makes up a
large portion of the tests that need to be carried out.
VII. CONCLUSIONS
Rethinking the traditional design process is required for the
design, manufacturing and assembly of a subsea electrical
distribution system. The most significant design criterion is the
impossibility of human access for maintenance or operation at
the equipment. Keeping in mind the general philosophy of
leave nothing to chance, it is necessary to consider the
electrical distribution system as a whole, and not just the sum of
its parts.
VIII. REFERENCES
[1] Bo Westman, Sverre Gije, Mats Hyttinen, Valhall Re-
Development Project, Power from Shore, PCIC Europe
2010
[2] Terence Hazel, Stanel Pana, Pierrick Andrea, Jean-Luc
Eschbach, Impact of Subsea Processing Power
Distribution: Subsea Switchgear Module A Key Enabling
Component in Subsea Installations, OTC 20468
[3] EN 13445:1-5, Unfired Pressure Vessels, General,
Materials, Design, Fabrication, Inspection and Testing
[4] DNV-RP-F301, DNV Recommended practices for Subsea
Separator Structural Design
th
[5] Roarks formulas for Stress and Strain, 6 Edition, Warren
C. Young
VII. VITAE
Terence Hazel graduated from the University of Manitoba
Canada with a BScEE in 1970. He worked for one year as a
power coordination engineer in Perth Australia and for several
years in Frankfurt Germany as a consulting engineer for
construction and renovation of industrial power distribution
systems. Since 1980 he has worked for Schneider Electric
(formerly Merlin Gerin) in Grenoble France in their projects
group where he has provided team leadership for several major
international projects involving process control and power
distribution.
His main interests are in power quality and the reliability of
electrical distribution systems. Mr. Hazel is a senior member of
IEEE and is Secretary and Technical Chair of the Petroleum
and Chemical Industry Committee Europe. He has co-authored
and presented several papers and tutorials at technical
conferences.
terence.hazel@fr.schneider-electric.com
Henri Baerd graduated with an engineering degree from the
Engineer of Ecole Suprieure des Arts et Mtiers ENSAM
France in 1990. Joining Jeumont Schneider Industrie in 1991,
he worked as technical leader on the NAUTILUS project for
TOTAL Company, the development of electrical chain and
subsea transformer (NAUTILUS is a 2MVA subsea multiphase
pump fed by a VSD via 100km of subsea cable). He moved to
ALSTOM for developing new generation High Power IGBT
converters, then joined AREVA T&D for 6 years in power
quality development systems (member of CIGRE VSC HVDC
working group). Since 2007 he works for CONVERTEAM as
Technical Director of specific projects as Ormen Lange, and as
Subsea Development Manager in the CONVERTEAM
Technical Division.
henri.baerd@converteam.com
Jarle J. Bremnes graduated in 1992 from the Norwegian
Institute of Technology (NTH) with a MSc. degree in electrical
power engineering. From 1992 to 1997 he worked as a
research scientist at ABB Corporate Research in Oslo, Norway.
He has been working with offshore and sub sea motor drives
and power systems since 1996, and DEH systems since 2000.
After some years as an independent consultant he is currently
employed at Nexans Norway, where he works as a Senior
Specialist on Subsea Power Systems. He has been deeply
involved in the design and supply of all power umbilicals built by
Nexans, but is also involved in DEH and conventional power
cable projects.
His main interests are in electromagnetic phenomena related
to subsea power supply, taking into account that design of any
power system fed through a long AC cable depends heavily on
a good-quality cable model.
jarle.bremnes@nexans.com
Josselin Legeay graduated from the Institut National des
Sciences Appliques in Rennes, France in 2003, with a BSc in
Mechanical & Automation Engineering. He has also studied at
the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New
York, USA. He later joined Deutsch as a Development Engineer
in 2004 and worked on various projects involving High pressure
Connectors and then managing several HV connector
developments for major subsea projects around the world.
He is now focused on managing the DEUTSCH HV Product
range, supervising internal developments and supporting the
DEUTSCH sale force.
jlegeay@deutsch.net