Single End Bonding of submarine 3-core cables – Qualification Testing

This paper details the development, qualification, and electrical model validation of a singlepoint bonding (SPB) system for 3-core submarine cables, specifically addressing the thermal bottleneck issues often encountered at landfall sections of offshore windfarm export cable routes. In these installations, deep burial, the use of PE conduits, and high soil thermal resistivity can severely limit cable ampacity, sometimes requiring conductor cross-sections larger than what is manufacturable in a 3-core cable. The SPB approach, adapted from land cable systems, eliminates circulating currents in the metallic sheaths, thereby reducing losses and significantly increasing cable current ratings in critical sections.