Energy / Subsea telecoms cable to expand to Rosebank oil field
THE UNDERSEA fibre optic telecoms cable which runs between Shetland and Faroe is to connect into the Rosebank oil and gas field.
An extra 10km of cabling is proposed to allow the Rosebank FPSO – floating production storage and offloading vessel – to join onto the SHEFA-2 link.
The FPSO will take on board oil at the field and make it ready for tankers to collect.
The SHEFA-2 “expansion project” has been described as a pre-requisite for first oil and gas from the Rosebank field, located around 130 kilometres north west of Shetland.
A marine licence application for extension works says the project has to be delivered to Rosebank developer Equinor no later than 15 May this year.
The cable and plant installation will be completed by the large vessel CS Sovereign.
The SHEFA-2 cable provides data communications to other West of Shetland operators.
The fibre optic cable is operated by Faroese Telecom, and its runs from Tórshavn in Faroe to Maywick in Shetland’s South Mainland.
It then runs from Sandwick on the east of the mainland to Orkney, before heading to Aberdeenshire.
The SHEFA-2 cable network has been in the headlines frequently in recent times following damage caused by fishing vessels, which caused internet outages.
Work meanwhile continues on the Rosebank oil and gas development to the north west of Shetland despite a court ruling which meant the UK Government has to re-consider the development’s previous approval following a challenge from climate campaigners.
The FPSO will be “electrification ready”, with the idea of the vessel being powered by a cable from Shetland previously under consideration – but availability of power was said to be a concern.
Start-up of Rosebank’s phase one is planned for 2026/27.
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