MeyGen has long understood the value of fiber optic sensing, deploying both DTS and DAS to ensure they know as much as possible about the health of their cables—cables that are deployed in the most challenging of conditions: tidal races, surface deployed on a rocky seabed.
Their ASN OptoDAS promised the greatest potential to understand the behavior of their cables, but with key details buried in voluminous data streams, the answers were hard to extract. In early 2024, MeyGen turned to Indeximate to uncover this critical insight into the cable health, identifying all of the key risk locations on each of the turbine connectors, reporting on vibration, abrasion, fatigue, and cable pinning/skipping, providing a continuous record showing how the pattern evolves over time—how it changes with lunar tidal patterns and during fierce winter storms.
The insight Indeximate provided has enabled MeyGen to optimize its inspection strategy, focusing on locations that are the highest risk. Delighted with the insight the monitoring provides, MeyGen completed a year’s monitoring and extended the subscription for three further years.
Fraser Johnson, Operations & Maintenance Manager for MeyGen PLC, said: “MeyGen generates predictable renewable electricity by harnessing the natural cycle of the tides. Operating in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth, however, means working in one of the world’s most extreme marine environments, where tidal currents can exceed 10 knots. This powerful tidal resource offers immense potential for clean energy generation but also presents significant operational challenges.
“Our subsea export cables are engineered to endure harsh conditions, but we remain highly aware of their exposure to turbulent flows and the seabed’s scouring effects. To address this, we’ve deployed Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technology along the cable routes supported by Indeximate to provide 24/7/365 monitoring services. This innovative monitoring allows us to assess asset risk with such precision that we are able to self-insure the cables, thanks to our detailed understanding of their condition.
“This monitoring initiative is a key element of our Tidal Asset Revenue Optimization strategy. By implementing a data-driven, proactive asset management approach, we ensure continuous condition monitoring and enable timely, informed maintenance decisions—intervening before issues arise to enhance reliability and reduce downtime.”
MeyGen operates the world’s largest tidal array, located in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth between the Scottish mainland and the island of Stroma. With over 10 years of operating experience, MeyGen is a world leader in the production of renewable electricity from tidal streams.
Having generated over 75 GW of electricity and achieving year-on-year system availability in excess 95% from tidal turbines generating 1.5 MW, MeyGen has continually sought to increase system efficiency and reduce operating costs in their commitment to demonstrate the commercial opportunity the tidal industry presents to the UK.
MeyGen has exploited its operational knowledge and position as an industry leader to develop the asset management strategies needed to reduce the levelized cost of energy from this source of predictable renewable electricity.
With array subsea export cables deployed directly onto the exposed bedrock present in high-flow tidal environments where these machines are installed, MeyGen has worked with Alcatel Submarine Networks to monitor the subsea assets using Distributed Acoustic Sensing. Utilizing this system, MeyGen has contracted Indeximate to provide continual monitoring of this exposed asset to provide early warning of concerns about the integrity of this crucial asset.
Chris Minto, Director at Indeximate, added: “We are delighted that MeyGen has chosen to renew and extend their subscription. We’ve managed to illustrate in a short time the critical at-risk regions of MeyGen’s cables supporting our mission of preventing cable failure. The long-term subscription demonstrates that our work is providing much-needed value in assessing cable health and maintenance efforts.”
