Area development plan Submarine cables

The BWO (then AGOW) commissioned DNV GL on behalf of a group of cooperation partners with the revision of the “Study on minimum distances in submarine cables” from 2012. In the course of the last five years, new knowledge and experience regarding the laying and installation of submarine cables and their repair have been gained in Germany and Europe. As part of the revision, current data was taken into account and the requirements with regard to the minimum distances between the submarine cables and to third party structures were updated accordingly. The revision of the study has shown that the minimum distances could be reduced in some cases compared to the requirements of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH).

The minimum distances to be observed are currently specified by the BSH in the Federal Offshore Plans for the North Sea (BFO-N) and Baltic Sea (BFO-O) published in December 2017. The published cable distances in Germany have the character of a guideline, from which deviations can be made in justified individual cases. As of 2019, the area development plan also published by the BSH is to replace the BFO-N / -O. The BWO will work to ensure that the findings of the study flow into the development of the area development plan.

Cooperation partners in the study were the developers and operators of offshore wind farms EnBW, Equinor (Statoil), Iberdrola / ScottishPower, innogy, Ørsted, PNE and Vattenfall.

Any further use than the inspection of the study and the use of the work results by third parties is subject to approval. Please contact us in this case.