A database of hard protection from offshore wind cable burial is being developed by marine consultancy and survey company ABPmer on behalf of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). 

The database aims to support more accurate cumulative effects assessments including improving understanding of the distribution of hard protection in marine protected areas (MPAs) designated to protect seabed features, and establish an evidence-base for use in offshore wind license conditions decisions in English Waters.  

The development of offshore wind farms is an important element in the UK’s strategy for energy security and net zero. Current offshore wind capacity is 14.73 GW, with the UK ambition for 2030 set at 50 GW.

Given the projected expansion of offshore wind farms (OWFs), with over 42 GW of further potential in the pre-application stage, the deployment of associated subsea cabling will also increase, with current estimates at 5,000 km of array cables and 4,000 km of export cables to be installed between 2019 and 2029. 

The existing distribution of anthropogenic hard substrate on the seabed is not currently mapped in its entirety, although some progress has been made.

Using industry data, ABPmer is building on existing studies to establish a geospatial database of the location and footprint of hard protection from OWF cable burial (and other data layers) in the marine environment. Cable protection, as well as the location of remedial works to address cable burial failures, will be mapped alongside environmental and other data layers to examine trends and better understand the cause of cable burial failures that require hard protection.

Heidi Roberts, ABPmer Project Director said,

“We are delighted to support the MMO and the wider offshore wind industry with the development of the cable protection database. It will aid the consenting process for offshore wind, where information on cable protection is required as part of Development Consent Order (DCO) applications and is used to inform environmental assessment.

By delivering this database, we are improving the evidence base, reducing uncertainty and helping ensure the continued responsible and sustainable development of offshore renewable energy.”

The report and database are expected to be publicly available in the autumn of 2025.